Anger
by B00k Freak
Summary: What if Glinda had reacted a little more violently to Elphabas death? After all, that trap door is awfully loose... Gelphie. Time travel fic. Please R&R.   Complete!
1. Chapter 1

**a.n. This is my first Wicked fic; I saw Wicked a little while ago in Sydney (where I live) and it was WONDERFUL! My favorite bits were Defying Gravity (duh) and One short day (when the stage just LIGHTS UP! **

**Disclaimer: Believe me, if I owned Wicked you would know.**

**A little something I thought of, if Glinda reacted to the 'melting' a little differently. It will be Gelphie, you don't like it then go and read something else.**

"Elphie?"

The castle was silent. After the shouts of the Witch hunters, the shrieks of the Monkeys and Elphaba's heartbreaking final screams the silence was almost deafening Glinda. There was a steady _drip drip drip_ of the cursed water that had ended her best friend's life.

"Elphie?"

She moved from where she was hidden to see what remained of Elphaba. The hat. That was all that remained, lying in the middle of the floor. The hat that Glinda had given her just before they became friends. And, she realized, the hat had outlived her best friend. Her grandmother's gifts usually antiques and this hat would live for longer now, because Elphaba was dead.

And suddenly it hit home. Elphaba was dead. Glinda sank to the floor, sobbing, all strength leaving her. _Oh Elphie I'm so sorry, it's all my fault. Why wouldn't you listen to me? I could have cleared your name, you could have lived, but oh no, the great Elphaba Thropp had to be so high and mighty. You always have been, ever since we met at Shiz. You would never accept help, WHY ELPHIE?!?_

Suddenly her strength was back, and with it came anger, anger at the Wizard, anger at Morrible, anger at the Ozians, anger at Elphaba. And, most predominantly, anger at herself. Anger at herself for letting her best friend die, for being part of the cause of Elphaba's death. Her rage was so extreme that she had the insatiable urge to hurt something. To make _something_ or _someone _pay for the loss of her best friend. Glinda couldn't get up, couldn't face the world yet, so she began hitting the floor with her tiny fists, in a fit of rage, taking out the fear and loneliness of her life on the horrible wooden floor that held all that remained of The Wicked Witch of the West.

It was at that moment the floor promptly gave way under her rage and she fell on to an extremely surprised Elphaba Thropp.

Glinda gasped. "ELPHIE! What in Oz happened?"

Elphaba rolled her eyes, "Oh, fantastic, I go to all the trouble of plotting an elaborate scheme to fake my death and you just fall straight through the floor." But she was grinning at the good witch.

They were in a surprisingly large dark room, with a round window on one wall, a hole in the ceiling where they had both fallen and a bed beneath them which had been used to break Elphaba's fall. Glinda's fall was broken by Elphaba.

Glinda rolled off of Elphaba and was shocked to see that she had been crying, "Elphie what's wrong?"

"Wha- oh, nothing, nothing's wrong," she replied somewhat unconvincingly, sitting up as she tried to wipe her nose on her sleeve "I could ask you the same question."

"Well, you see, my best friend was just killed by a bucket of water thrown by a twelve year old girl and I'm going to have to go out and _celebrate_ her death with the horrendible people who were responsible. There's no one who I can talk to because all of Oz hates said friend and I have to work for the most horrible people in Oz, who plotted her death. Now tell me, what's wrong?"

Elphaba crossed her arms around her waist and looked at the floor, "I could hear you. Up there," she gestured to the now open trap door "I didn't want you to be alone, that's all."

Glinda looked at her sadly "You left me before, in the Emerald city, were you going to again?" her bottom lip was trembling and she looked on the verge of tears.

Elphaba wanted to lie. To tell Glinda that she was staying, would let her clear her name. But she couldn't. "Yes. But you've got to understand Glinda, I didn't have a choice, there was-" She was cut off by a slap from the other witch.

"Elphaba Thropp how could you?! Do you have any idea how terrible it's been these last year's knowing that you were in danger every minute of every day and not being able to do anything about it? To know that all of this was my fault? How do you think I would have felt, the rest of my life, thinking I was the cause of your death?!?"

Elphaba stared at her for a second before grabbing her in a hug. "No, you weren't. How could you think this was your fault? You didn't bring that infuriating child here, Morrible did. You didn't pronounce me as wicked, The Wizard did."

Glinda broke away, "But I didn't argue with them Elphie, I didn't speak out and say 'no, she's not wicked' I just smiled and waved, giving _stupid _speeches trying to stop people from fearing you and listening to them say such awful things about you that it tore me up inside"

"But you had everything you ever wanted, everyone loved you"

"No they didn't Elphie, it took me a while to realize, but they didn't. They couldn't love me because they didn't even _know _me. They loved Glinda the Good, but none of them knew Glinda Upland. Not like you did. And for the record, I've been miserable ever since you flew away on that broom. Every day and night I wish I'd had the courage to go with you."

"Me too. I mean, I don't blame you for staying behind; I've just missed you so much. Not a day's gone by when I haven't thought of you. Every time I see my hat I think of you, every time I wear that cloak I think of you. Every time, before I went out on one of my escapades I'd think 'What would Glinda say?'"

She was suddenly pounced into a rib breaking hug by the Good Witch of the North. "If you think I'm letting you leave now you've got another thing coming Elphaba Thropp." She murmured into her shoulder.

"Glinda I know this is hard, but I have to leave. There's no way I could live in Oz for much longer and survive. They'd hunt me down again and this time I wouldn't be able to use a rumor as a way out, they'd find out, and-"

She broke off, zoning out. "ELPHIE! What's wrong, what's happening?"

Elphaba was in another world, or so it seemed. She could see the throne room, Dorothy and her dog and the Wizard (or at least his contraption) arguing. _You've got to admire her determination_ she thought with a grin. As they were arguing her mutt ran behind the Wizards contraption and revealed the real Wizard, in all his glory (or lack thereof). Dorothy was shocked, and as the conversation progressed Elphaba realized what was going to happen. _Oh please, please, please, if there's anyone up there, you owe me big time._

"_The only way to get you back to Kansas is for me to take you__ there myself!"_

"YES!!!"

This was followed by a piercing scream/squeal as Elphaba realized she was once again in Kiama Ko and that she was in dire need of air.

"Glin- lemego."

"Huh? Oh, right, sorry," she let go embarrassedly. "What happened anyway Elphie? You just zoned out, I thought you might have been dead for a minute."

Elphaba thought for a moment, frowning in concentration. "I don't really know. I think I might have had a premonition, it happened once before, when we were at Shiz."

Glinda looked confused and a little hurt, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Elphaba smirked at her "We'd _just_ been assigned our rooms Glin."

"Oh" she grinned sheepishly, "Did it come true? What was it anyway?"

"N- yes, I think it has," She looked depressed as she came to that realization. "And it was of a celebration through Oz, all about with me. I guess I just misunderstood it." She sighed as they looked out the window at the Ozians, celebrating the death of Glinda the Good's best friend. They stood, side by side in friendship, ying and yang, pink and green, watching over Oz, simply enjoying being near each other without a threat for the first time in years.

"What was the one you had just then?" Glinda asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Well, I'm doing my best not to get my hopes up because of how the first one turned out, but I think the Wizard is leaving Oz."

"WHAT?!? Elphie that's incredible! If he leaves then there's only me left! And I could clear your name, because there'd be no one left to oppose me, well, except Horrible Morrible, but I could have her thrown in Southstairs for what she's done. You could be free, you could save the Animals, and you wouldn't have to go!"

"That would be brilliant Glinda, but as I said, I don't want to get my hopes up. Besides would you want me to be ruling with you? You seem to be terribly good at it on your own"

Glinda gave her a hard stare, "Elphie, I'm good with people. I am absolutely dreadful at making decisions, and with politics. I'd say that's obvious given there was never a 'Save the Wicked Witch' faction of Oz. That's why I need you. You can _do _things, you can make the hard decisions and you can see what needs to be done. I can't do that, just like you couldn't appease the people; I don't think either of us could do this alone"

Elphaba looked thoughtful, "Well I certainly couldn't change Oz by myself, look at what happened when I tried."

Glinda shoved her playfully, "That was only because you couldn't stay calm for _once_, instead of _flying off the handle!_"

Elphaba smirked lightheartedly at her and they both dissolved into laughter on the bed, partially through relief that the end of their battle was in sight, but mainly in pure joy that the other was there.

"I'll stay."

The statement threw Glinda completely, "What?" she asked with anticipation, her eyes wide and hopeful, sparkling in the moonlight.

"I said I'll stay, I don't even really know what I'd do if I left anyway."

"Elphie! Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you! I promise I can make this work, they won't hunt you down, you can live in the palace, and you can visit Doctor Dillamond, did I tell you I rescued him? And-"

She was suddenly silenced by a green hand clasped over her mouth. Elphaba was smiling at her, "You're babbling my sweet. I already said I'd come, there's no need to discourage me with stories of your wardrobe."

Glinda made an offended sound and forcefully removed Elphaba's hand, "You know my wardrobe isn't _that _bad. Just because you look like you've been attending a funeral every day for 5 years, doesn't mean the rest of us have to."

Elphaba collapsed onto the bed clutching her shoulder screaming, "Aah! You wound me, Lady Glinda. The pain! Someone save me! I'm melting!" Before dissolving into laughter again.

Glinda tried her best stern face and held it for a good five seconds before she was lying besides Elphaba laughing along with her.

Once they were calmed down Glinda sat up, "Okay, you're staying, and we're gonna save Oz and bring peace and give chocolate to the children, but for now I think it's best if you stay in the palace. People will be suspicious that you might still be alive for some reason, and the Palace is the last place they'd look" She said with a grin.

"Where in the palace? I'm hardly going to hide in the throne room."

"My rooms! Goodness Elphie you're getting thick, I thought I was the blonde! Anyway, you can stay in my rooms until the Wizard has gone and I've take over, then I'll announce your innocence to the Ozians and if they accept it then I'll show you to them, if not we'll make them accept it and I'll show you to them anyway!"

Elphaba cackled, "Sounds like a plan! Now you, my sweet, have got to go and celebrate with the Ozians, where abouts is your room in the palace?"

"It's the third floor, fifth room from the right. But how are you going to get there anyway Elphie? I don't want to risk you being spotted on that broom of yours."

They both thought for a minute, "I know!" Elphaba exclaimed, "hang on-" and she jumped through the trap door and disappeared.

A minute or so later she reappeared with several brooms, all of which looked exactly like her own, "I enchanted these all to fly, just in case I lost my first one. You can give these out to the Ozians, in celebration of my death or something, and show them how to fly around; no one would notice an extra flying broom out there."

Glinda still looked uncomfortable, "I think some might, mostly because you look so… Well, _you._"

"Point taken, I might have to lose the hat for this one trip; I think I'll have to keep the cloak though, don't want anyone to recognize my verdigris."

Glinda put one arm around her shoulders, "I love your skin color you know, sure, it's a bit shocking at first, but you really _can _look beautiful."

Elphaba turned a dark forest green and looked away, "You're the only one who thinks so."

"That's only because you never let anyone get to know you, and the Ozians want you to fill their image of you, so they say you're hideous when none of them have even spoke to you."

"We can hope. Anyway, time to go, they'll be missing you. I'll see you when you've finished with your party."

Glinda swatted her arm, "Give it a little while, and then fly to the Emerald city, I left in a hurry so my window should still be open, I'll meet you there later."

"Count on it," she smiled at the Good Witch of the North, "Now go, they'll be wondering where you are."

"Okay, I'll see you later tonight" she walked to the window, "And Elphie?"

"Yes?"

She kissed her on the cheek, "Thank you." And she summoned her bubble and disappeared into the sky.

Elphaba's hand was on her cheek, "Wow."

**a.n. Okay! My first proper fic, with real dialogue!!! If you notice any spelling/grammar errors please don't hesitate to tell me! Big thanks to lozzakapozza, for help with my writers block, basic encouragement to keep going and listening to my mad rants. See that button down there? It turns GREEN when you press it! Go on try! I got those green glasses for my birthday! I'm so happy!**


	2. Chapter 2

**a.n. YAY! Chapter 2! How wonderful! I know, still not much plot, but fluff is so FUN! I'm gonna bring Fiyero in next chapter (yay) but it's still gonna be Gelphie, and! Fiyero's not gonna become an evil, megalomaniacal villain, I'm leaving that to Morrible cos she does it so WELL!**

**ON WITH THE CHAPTER!**

_She walked to the window, "And Elphie?"_

"_Yes?"_

_She kissed her on the cheek, "Thank you." And she summoned her bubble and disappeared into the sky._

_Elphaba's hand was on her cheek, "Wow."_

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

"Wow."

Elphaba was standing in the room beneath the trap door, her cheek burning where Glinda had kissed her. She was glad Glinda had gone, because she was blushing so much her skin would be as dark as myrtle. Glinda had just left to celebrate with the Ozians, but before, she had- Elphaba inwardly blushed again at the thought. Her feelings for Glinda were immaterial anyway, no matter that they had only begun a few minutes ago. She cared about the Good Witch too much to risk losing her again. Besides Glinda didn't even like girls, her track record at Shiz was enough to prove that.

Elphaba sighed and moved towards the window, hugging her hat. Glinda's bubble was a shining dot in the distance now, the Ozians, mere ants. She looked instead to the sky, to the moon and the stars. They were the only things in her life that had never judged her. The moon and the stars had always looked down on her, from when her mother died and she had cried her eyes out all night, though still not understanding what had happened, to her one night in the Emerald city with Glinda, one of the happiest days of her life.

Elphaba looked at her infamous hat. She loved that hat. Glinda had tried constantly to talk her out of wearing it after they became friends, but nothing could convince Elphaba. Not only did the hat suit her, but it was also one of the only gifts she had received, along with her mother's green bottle. Now the hat was one of the most defining factors of the Wicked Witch of the West, almost as much as her complexion, which was saying something. Elphaba smiled as she realized that half of her recognizable features as the Witch were given to her by Glinda the Good. Oh, the irony.

She realized that it had probably been long enough for Glinda to distribute the brooms now, so she mounted her broom, tucking her hat under her arm and her mother's bottle in her pocket, and launched herself into the night sky, to join the stars again.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Glinda's mind was in turmoil as she drifted through the sky. She had kissed Elphaba. Be it only on the cheek, but she had felt the electricity as her lips had touched Elphaba's skin. _I feel like a love struck teenager again._ The thought pulled her up short. Love? Did she love Elphaba? Well, yes, she did. But was she in love with her? She pushed these thoughts to the back of her head as she heard the Ozians cheer, _gotta please the crowd, that's why Elphie needs me._

She lowered her bubble to the cheering crowd, celebrating the supposed death of her best friend. From above the singing and ballyhoo a voice rose.

"Glinda! Exactly how dead is she?"

Glinda was expecting this, after all, that was why she had demanded Elphaba hide in her rooms. _Well, maybe not the only reason_, said her inner voice teasingly. She gathered herself and answered the Ozian "Since there has been much rumor and speculation... innuendo, outuendo," _is that even a word?_

"Let me set the record straight. According to the Time Dragon Clock, the melting occurred at the 13th hour; a direct result of a bucket of water thrown by a female child. Yes, the Wicked Witch of the West is dead!"

And she managed to celebrate as enthusiastically as the Ozians, for the exact opposite of the reason they were.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

When Glinda returned to her rooms several hours later it was dark and there was no sign that anyone had been there since she had left.

"Elphie?" She whispered in a low voice, lest anyone hear her.

There was no answer; she wandered further into the room in search of her wayward friend. As she passed her enormous wardrobe a figure stepped out from behind her and grabber her shoulders,

"Boo." A voice whispered in her ear.

Glinda jumped. "Elphie! Don't _do_ that!"

Elphaba cackled, "Sorry Glin, it's just so easy, and you look cute all flustered like that."

_Did she just call me cute?_

_Did I just call her cute?_

They both blushed before Elphaba cleared her throat a bit too loudly for it to be entirely plausible, bringing the moment to an end.

"So, um, what now?"

"Well, we'll have to put your things somewhere no one will find them, and then we can get some much deserved rest"

Elphaba smirked, "Well, _things_ makes it sound as if I have more than I actually have."

Glinda felt her heart sink, "What do you have?"

Elphaba pursed her lips and crossed her arms around her waist and became very interested in a spot on the opposite wall, not replying.

"Elphie! What do you have?"

"Promise not to hurt me?"

Glinda rolled her eyes, a habit she picked up from Elphaba, "Promise."

"My broom, my hat and that bottle of my mothers." Elphaba said before scampering as far away from Glinda as possible. Glinda merely looked shocked for a moment before smiling in a most unnerving manner.

"Uuh, Glin? You okay?"

"Oh, yes Elphie. I'm fine, but that means you've only got the clothes you're wearing! They'll need a wash, but then you'd have no clothes at all," They both blushed again at this, "So you'd have to borrow mine!"

"No."

"But Elphie, what else could you wear?" she continued in a falsely bright tone, "We can't have you walking around in dirty, smelly clothes!"

Elphaba grinned at her, "Glin, I've been wearing this dress for years, I enchanted it so it doesn't get dirty, smelly or tear. I can't exactly go shopping every day like _some_ people."

Glinda pouted, her bright tone lost, "Darn it. I was so _close_. What do you sleep in then?"

"Sleep is a valued commodity for me Glinda, most of the time I stay in this in case I need to make a quick getaway."

Glinda looked sympathetic, "You don't need to here, and a nightdress would be much more comfortable, I'll lend you one of mine."

"Glinda, _no_."

"Why not? Oh, don't worry! They're not all frilly and pink."

"Only most of them"

"Shut up."

Elphaba grinned again, "Where can we put my _things_?"

Glinda laughed, "There's a hidden compartment in my wardrobe, there was some stuff I wanted to keep, and it wouldn't do for anyone to find them."

Once Glinda had shown her the compartment it became highly apparent why. It was full of keepsakes of their friendship. Some photos of them together, which could have been grounds for Glinda's execution if found, and some that only held value to the two girls. The pink flower clip, Glinda's first B+ and her training wand.

They both smiled dopily at the memory of their time at Shiz as they put the broom and the hat in the secondary cupboard, Elphaba kept the bottle with her, as always. She was quickly handed a simple white nightdress and just as quickly changed, while Glinda turned her back. They both suddenly yawned.

Elphaba smirked sleepily, "Okay, where do we sleep? I can't help but notice you've only got one bed. What would you do if it didn't match your nightdress?"

Glinda swiped at her arm, "I'm not _that_ bad, you know. And in answer to your question, we can share, that bed's huge"

They both shuffled around awkwardly for a little while, organising things that were not needed and closing blinds before Elphaba put her bottle under the pillow and they both went to bed. Sleep was immediate.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Glinda was woken much later by a deafening BOOM of thunder, the hammering of rain on the windows, and a considerably softer whimper from her left. She looked at where Elphaba was sleeping and saw a quivering, Elphaba-sized ball under the sheets.

"Elphie? Are you alright?"

A pair of wide brown eyes stared at Glinda from a small gap in the sheets, "I thought you were asleep." She had never sounded so vulnerable. Glinda was also shocked to see tears in those chocolate brown orbs.

"I was but the storm woke me up, what's wrong?"

A weak smile greeted this query, "I suppose you wouldn't believe me if I said it was nothing?"

Glinda gave her a reproachful look, "No."

"Thought not," she paused for a second, gathering herself. "I don't like storms, that's all. All the water flowing from the sky. If I was outside I would probably die, and it always seems to storm before the worst times of my life. So it brings all the bad things crashing down again."

Glinda sided closer to her and wrapped her arms around the other witch. "It's okay Elphie, I'm here, I promise I'll never let you be alone again." She paused, "I thought you weren't allergic to water. How did you survive when Dorothy threw that bucket of it over you?"

Elphaba managed a small smirk, but it didn't have the usual power when she flinched at another flash of lightning, "It's amazing the things you can do with oil you know Glin. Very thin, clear oil, that is almost impossible to discern from water."

Glinda gaped at her for a moment before swatting her arm, "You are too smart for your own good, you know that? Besides, did you even consider what you would have done if I hadn't fallen through the trap door?"

"A bit," She retorted a bit too defensively before curling into an even tighter ball at another clap of thunder and whimpering, "I was going to fly over the impassible desert and the badlands, and see where that took me."

Glinda gave her a look, "You know, it's called the _impassible_ desert for a reason."

"Then how did they ever map the badlands?"

Glinda thought for a second, "They went _around _the desert." She stated decisively.

"Well, if it makes you feel better I'd have gone _around_ the desert."

Glinda was about to reply when there was another massive flash of lightning, closely followed by a deafening crash of thunder, making the previous ones seem childish and causing Elphaba to give a muffled cry and put her hands over head, trying to shield herself from the rain outside.

It broke Glinda's heart to see her like that. She wrapped her arms around Elphaba's prone form, "It's okay, Elphie. I'm here. Everything will be fine. You're safe."

And Glinda was finally able to answer her own question. _Was she in love with Elphaba Thropp?_ Madly, truly, deeply.

**a.n. yeah, I know, cheesy ending, but it was that or 'head over heels' and I liked that better, also! Not as long as the last chapter! OH NOES! Big thanks again to lozzakapozza for listening to my rants and helping me decide between the two last lines. **

**NOTE: Reviews are even better that 'Favorite story' alerts. Why? BECAUSE YOU COULD HAVE FAVORITED IT BY ACCIDENT! IF YOU DON'T REVIEW I WILL THINK YOU DID!**


	3. Chapter 3

**a.n. I'm baaaaaack! Have you missed me? OMG! So many reviews! I'm almost overwhelmed! BIG THANK YOU'S to ALL my reviewers, more plot in this chapter! But sadly, led Gelphie, oh well, you can't have it all, in the next chapter probably.**

**Disclaimer: When I own wicked I will be sure to let you know**

Elphaba woke to sunlight streaming through the curtains, all signs of the storm of the previous night gone. She looked to her right and saw Glinda, with her arms still around her from her terror the night before. She smiled at the memory. There was only one person who had always been there for her, and that was Glinda. She looked so peaceful in sleep. Did everyone look younger sleeping? Because right now Glinda could be the eighteen year old Galinda that Elphaba had roomed with at Shiz.

Glinda suddenly gave a slight stretch, groaned and woke up. On seeing Elphaba lying beside her she smiled, "Good morning."

Elphaba grinned back, "Morning."

"Are you okay now? You were pretty scared last night."

Elphaba looked embarrassed, "Yeah, I'm fine, I'm fine."

"_Now_ what's wrong? What are you so embarrassed about?"

Elphaba looked uncomfortable, "No one's ever seen me like that. I put up so many barriers to stop it, and you manage to get past them all."

"It's a gift." said Glinda, her eyes sparkling mischievously. They sat in comfortable silence before deciding to get changed into their day clothes, one at a time while the other turned their back.

"So, what have you got to do today?" asked Elphaba as Glinda changed.

Glinda had to think for a moment, "Well, I suppose I need to be seen at the celebrations of the death of the Wicked Witch of the West, they'll still be going on. I think the Witch hunters should be back already, I'll need to thank them _personally_. But other than that, I'll have to look happy in front of the Ozians and miserable in front of the Wizard and Morrible, so they don't suspect anything. You can turn around now."

Elphaba smirked at her, "You've put a lot of thought into that my sweet."

"I just thought about what I would be doing if you were _actually_ dead."

Elphaba was about to reply when there was a knock at the door followed by an inquiring voice, "Lady Glinda? I need to speak with you."

The witches looked at each other in panic, "Hide!" hissed Glinda, causing Elphaba to hurl herself under the bed.

"Who is it?" sang Glinda in a falsely bright voice.

"It's the Scarecrow. Lady Glinda, can I come in?"

"Little bit foreword isn't he?" grumbled Elphaba from under the bed, "After all, you haven't officially met."

"Uum, just a minute! I'm getting dressed," She replied to the straw man still in a false high voice, "Get further under!" she hissed to Elphaba, "If I can see you so could he."

Elphaba rolled her eyes and sided further under the bed until she was completely out of view, Glinda sighed in relief and opened the door. The straw man stood in the doorway looking as troubled as a scarecrow could. "Can I come in? I don't want anyone to overhear."

Glinda nodded mutely, looking thoroughly confused, stepping aside to allow him entry, "What _is _the matter master Scarecrow? You should be festivating with the Ozians, they'd love to see you."

The scarecrow merely looked at her for a second, "How can you do this Glinda?"

Glinda looked bewildered, "How can I do what?"

"How can you sit there, looking so happy and cheerful? I thought you were a horrible liar, but right now, from the look on your face she might not be dead. I swear, Glinda, I didn't mean to, I couldn't remember who I was or what happened and now she's gone, and it's my fault." He looked on the verge of hyperventilation.

Glinda stared at him strangely, "Who? The wicked witch?! Of course I'm happy master Scarecrow; at last she's dead and gone. We can now live in peace once more." _Elphie you know I don't mean it._

The straw man stared at her with a pained expression, "Glinda, it's me."

Glinda was on the verge of uttering an undignified 'huh?' when diplomacy kicked in, "Well of course it's you Scarecrow, you can't be anyone but you."

"Glinda, I'm Fiyero."

"WHAT?!?" screamed Glinda deafeningly, at the exact same moment there was a 'thump' from under the bed, as if someone had hit their head.

Fiyero looked at the bed in confusion, then dismissed it. "I was dying, after what happened in the cornfield they took me away to beat me for information. Then suddenly I felt different. The hits didn't hurt any more, and I felt numb. The soldiers all screamed and ran away, and I lost all memory of my life before being turned into a scarecrow. When Dorothy turned up, I joined up with her crew to try and regain my memory. I remember now, and I wish I didn't. She's _dead_ Glinda." He was on the verge of tears now.

Glinda had regained herself somewhat, "Fascinating theory though that is master Scarecrow-" the use of this name did not go unnoticed, "Is there any way you can prove it?"

"Uuuumm, I'm thinking, I'm thinking, something only you and I know, something only you and I know… OH! The Wizard and Morrible lied about what happened when Elphaba ran away. You followed her up to the roof and you barricaded yourselves into the attic, before she enchanted a broom to fly and asked you to go with her, but you were too scared. You told me that every day and night you wished you could have gone with her."

Glinda stared at him for a moment, then grabbed him in such a huge hug that it would have broken his ribs, if he had them, "Oh Fiyero! I've missed you!"

He hugged her back, though not quite as hard, "I've missed you too Glinda. I'm sorry about leaving you, I really am, but I don't love you that way. I don't think I did Elphaba either, it's just, if there's one thing I can't do, its lie about someone I care about. I would never have let people say those kinds of things about you, so how could I Elphaba? You're like the sisters I never had."

Glinda smiled at him with tears in her eyes, "Why Fiyero, do believe you've grown up. It's okay; I think I only hung on to you for so long because I lost Elphie."

"But you still haven't answered my question; how can you be so happy when Elphaba's dead? I'm devastated, and if I'm not very much mistaken, you cared about her more than I did."

Glinda grinned sheepishly and blushed at his implication, "Oh, yeah, right, just turn around for a second. I've got something to show you."

Fiyero turned around, baffled, as Glinda tried to help Elphaba out from under the bed as quietly as possible. They stood, side by side for a moment before Glinda said, "Okay, turn around."

Fiyero turned around, still with a look of complete bewilderment on his face, which changed to shock, and again to joy at the sight of the green witch standing before him, "Elphaba! You're alive!" he cried, before sweeping her up into a huge hug.

Elphaba laughed as he spun her around, "I've missed you too Fiyero, but I need air, unlike some." She said it teasingly.

He released her, standing back, "My Oz Elphaba, what happened? How did you survive?"

She smiled at him, gesturing for them all to sit down on the bed, "For starters, yes, I am allergic to water, but what that child threw on me was not water, it was oil." She paused to be sure he was following her.

"You know in that _particular_ room there was a trap door, about where I was standing? As she threw it I fell through, leaving my hat and my mother's bottle behind, for me to collect later, but _someone_ had turned up before to try and talk me out of giving up. This _someone _saw what had happened from my wardrobe,found my hat and bottle and got a little bit angry." here she shot Glinda a teasing look.

"What?!? I thought you were dead! Of course I was upset!"

Elphaba rolled her eyes, "Anyway, our little blonde friend here got a bit violent and started beating the floor. The latch was loose on the door, and she fell straight through."

Fiyero snorted, "Now that I'd like to see."

The girls simultaneously hit him. "Ow! Oh wait, hang on. I can't feel pain can I?" he said mischievously.

They all grinned at this, although Elphaba's was tinged with sadness. She should have been able to do better than this in saving him. She pushed those thoughts to the back of her head. There was nothing she could do about it now.

"Anyway, as the princess here was trying, quite desperately I must say, to convince me not to leave, I had a premonition, that when Dorothy leaves Oz, the Wizard will go with her."

Fiyero's reaction was much similar to Glinda's, minus the squealing, "Elphaba that's great! With him gone it's just Glinda, she can clear your name!"

"Amazing, that's exactly what I said." Glinda remarked, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

"No need to rub it in, I'm staying aren't I?"

They all smiled again and Glinda and Fiyero went out to the celebrations of Elphaba's death. As soon as they were gone Elphaba lay back on the bed with a contented sigh. She was glad that Fiyero was not in love with her, that made things slightly less complicated. _But still very complicated_.

She snorted and looked out the window to see Glinda's bubble floating over the Ozians as they celebrated. It really was a remarkable invention, and the fact that Glinda actually _had _invented it made it even more impressive. _It's going to be a long day._ She thought as she meandered around the room, looking for something to do.

* * *

When Glinda returned to her room several hours later Elphaba was lying on the bed with several balls of blank paper, scrunched up, throwing them repeatedly at a bin on the other side of the room.

"How is it that you do not have one book in your entire room?"

Glinda rolled her eyes, "Unlike some, I do not have an unnatural obsession with inanimate objects that give you headaches. What have you been doing?"

Elphaba gave her a look, "Looking for a book to read, failing to find a book to read, bemoaning the fact that there was no book to read, wishing there was a book to rea-"

"Alright! I'll get you a damn book. Have you done _anything_ else?"

"Not really, mundane things that I resorted to doing through lack of a book to-" She was cut off as Glinda gave her a death stare.

"Nothing really. Throwing balls of paper into a bin, played myself in noughts and crosses, which got very boring very quickly, I think I played the same game several times, filled my mother's bottle up with water to see if it changed the color of the water. It didn't in case you're wondering." She said as she held up the bottle.

Glinda frowned on the sight of the bottle, "Elphie can I see that?"

"Sure, but _don't_ drop it."

"As if I would… it looks familiar."

"It would Glin, you _have_ seen it before."

Glinda didn't even take the bait, "No, not from you, somewhere else… Oh my Oz. Elphie, I need to check something, can I take this with me?"

"Fine, but-"

"Yeah yeah, 'don't drop it'"

And she sped from the room.

*****************

Glinda's mind was in turmoil. It couldn't be the same bottle could it? She'd never seen another like this one. If it was then this begged the answer to a lot of questions. Just before entering the throne room she stopped and decomposed herself, trying to look as miserable as possible. _Just remember how you felt the other night. _And suddenly there were tears in her eyes. She burst through the doors.

The Wizard and Morrible seemed to be half way through a conversation, "Well, I don't know why you're so despondiary, I thought it went quite well! They seem thrilled to shreds with their brains and their hearts, and this and that.... Oh, Glinda! I thought you'd be out festivating."

How Glinda despised that woman. She knew that Elphaba was her friend, and was mocking her for no reason other than her own personal pleasure. Glinda drew a shakey breath.

"This was Elphaba's." She said, holding out the bottle.

The Wizard seemed to be listening to her for once, "What's that you say?"

"It was a keepsake. It was her mother's. She told me so herself. I've only seen a little, green bottle like this one other time. It was right here, in this very room." She slowed down a bit, handing him the bottle, "You offered me a drink from it."

The Wizard looked confused, then devastated "But... oh my Lord... I am a sentimental man, who always longed to be... a father..." He sank to his knees as he realized that he had planned his own daughter's demise.

Morrible didn't seem to care about this piece of information for the bomb that had been dropped, so much as an explanation of Elphaba's superior skill, "So _that_ was it. That's why she had such powers! She was a child of both worlds!"

The Wizard was in tears and paying no attention to the drama playing out.

Glinda realized what she had to do, "I want you to leave Oz. I'll make the pronouncement myself: that the strains of wizardship have been too much for you and you are taking an indefinite leave of absence!"

He still didn't seem to notice, "Did you hear what I said?!"

Now he nodded "Yes, your goodness."

Glinda couldn't help but feel a shred of pity for this man. He wasn't evil at heart, but weak and most definitely not made for leadership. "You'd better go get your balloon ready" and she realized a way to get rid of Morrible as well, "Guards!

Morrible's tone had changed completely now, from mocking to falsely sweet, and in a few words, sucking up. "Glinda, dear, I know we've had our miniscule differentiations in the past..."

Glinda inwardly rolled her eyes, _miniscule? _ "Guards!! Madame, have you ever considered how you'd fare in captivity?"

"What?"

Oooh, she was going to enjoy this, "Captivity... prison! Personally, I don't think you'll hold up very well. My professional opinion is that you do not have what it takes. I hope you prove me wrong. I doubt you will. Take her away!"

Morrible screamed all the way to Southstairs. When she was thrown in her cell she started plotting.

**a.n. so, there you go! PLOT! Wow! There's gonna be a bit of time travel later, I'm going to follow the DOCTOR WHO RULES TO TIME TRAVEL, I didn't want to make Fiyero a villain, cos he is a nice guy, despite what some Gelphie shippers might think. Not sure whether to bring in Boq or not.**

**Reviews are love!**


	4. Chapter 4

**a.n. WHOOT! New chapter! Horray! Ty again to all my reviewers, you guys keep me going! A bit more happening in this chapter, some Gelphie, and confessions (to Fiyero). I'll probably bring out the plot in the next chapter, which should be up later in the week, if not, then early next week. I write every week night except Thursday! (I have work)**

Glinda's head was reeling. The Wizard was Elphaba's father. How could that be? Elphaba was so good, and he was so… Not! _Elphie_, she thought. She needed to tell her, but how? Just walk into the room, _'Hey Elphie, guess what? The Wizards your father! Weird huh?_' No. That wouldn't work. No matter what she pretended, Elphaba was a sensitive person. This was the last thing she needed. Glinda loved her too much to tell her like that. The thought pulled her up short. Love? She had admitted it to herself the night before, when Elphaba was so scared of the storm. But she hadn't really thought about it since then. Her feelings hadn't changed though. She had thought of the green witch every day since she had started Shiz.

Glinda glanced down at her arms, she had both the bottles in her hands, Elphaba's in the left, The Wizards in her right. She stopped for a second outside her bedroom door to gather herself and place the Wizards bottle in her pocket. She took a deep breath and opened the door.

"There you are. I thought you might have gotten lost."

Glinda stared at her mutely. She looked so contented, so happy. She should lie to her. Keep her the way she was now. But she couldn't.

"Elphie."

Elphaba realized that something was wrong, "What is it? What's happened?"

Glinda sat on the bed, next to Elphaba, and handed her the bottle.

"Oh, thanks. But what's wrong?"

Glinda silently pulled out the other bottle from her pocket, "This was the Wizards."

Elphaba stiffened, "How is that possible? I've never seen another bottle like this one."

"Elphie. He's-"

Her eyes were wide, "Don't say it."

"He's your father."

Elphaba suddenly started breathing deeply incredibly rapidly. At almost the same time she began shaking all over, "I-I think I'm going to faint."

"Slow down Elphie, slow breathing, with me. In through the nose, out through the mouth. One, two, one two."

Slowly but surely the green witch began to calm down. Once Elphaba was under control again she turned to Glinda, "How did you know?"

"Oh, um, after you and Fiyero left, the Wizard offered me a drink, 'to dull the pain' he said. I was too upset at the time to notice, but when I saw your bottle before I realized. He's going to leave; I told him that he was no longer wanted here. I threw Morrible in jail too."

Elphaba raised an eyebrow, "Fast worker. When's he going?"

"I think the ceremony is the day after tomorrow."

"Great. Now I only have to put up with a few more days of suffering with no books to read."

"ELPHIE!"

She cackled.

* * *

The next day passed quickly with no further incidents. Glinda got Elphaba a book from the library which she spent the next day reading while Glinda was out celebrating the death of the Wicked Witch of the West and thanking the Witch hunters for their wonderful work.

The evening before the Wizard was to leave the two witches began planning for when Elphaba would come out.

"Elphie you need to wear something different when we clear your name."

"I've _told_ you-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, it doesn't need washing or anything. It's not that. It's how people _view_ you. They have an image in their heads of who the wicked witch _is_. Part of it's your coloring, part of it is the hat, the cloak and the black dress. If you're dressed differently than what they expect, they will be more inclined to believe that you _are_ different."

"I suppose. You're the one who knows about appearances, not me."

Glinda smiled at Elphaba and her stomach flipped, "So you'll agree that you need a new dress? A non-black dress?"

Elphaba sighed, "If I must."

Glinda squealed, "Thank you Elphie! Now which color would be good?"

"Grey."

"Elphie! That doesn't count! What about pink?"

"No. Absolutely not."

"But Elphie, pink goes good with green!"

Elphaba gave her a strange look, "Don't I know it."

They gazed at each other for a moment, not realizing what the other was doing, before Glinda snapped out of it, "Uum, what about red?"

"Glinda, I know it's getting colder but that is no reason to dress me up like a Lurlinemas decoration."

"Purple!"

"I'll look like a walking bruise!"

Glinda gave it some more thought for a minute, "What about blue or white?"

"I guess they wouldn't be _too _bad. Which one? Or both?"

"White, I think. It's the color of purity and innocence. It'll be a bit difficult to buy, given that you can't come out with me to buy it, and our sizes are so different. You just _had_ to be extremely tall didn't you?"

"I'm not tall. You're short!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

Neither could keep it up any longer so they both burst into laughter, falling sideways onto the bed. Glinda loved how Elphaba looked when she smiled, she seemed as though she didn't have a care in the world. Her emerald skin appeared to glow, giving her an ethereal beauty that took Glinda's breathe away.

Glinda looked so beautiful. Her golden curls framed her face and her blue eyes sparkled. Elphaba had never seen a more stunning sight in her life. She had seen the entirety of Oz from above at night, lit by the lights of houses, the Emerald city a glowing star, but it was nothing compared to how Glinda looked right now.

They both started to sit up, still giggling, "I know!" exclaimed Elphaba, "We could ask Fiyero to get it, say he's got a new girlfriend or something. They wouldn't suspect anything if he bought it."

Glinda nodded, "That could work, I'll have to go with him though; his fashion sense is second only to yours."

"Ouch."

"Well its true isn't it?"

"No comment."

* * *

Glinda and Fiyero went out that afternoon clothes shopping.

"So, what exactly are we looking for?"

"I've _told_ you, Elphie needs a new dress."

"Which one?"

Glinda sighed and rolled her eyes, "If I knew that then I wouldn't be here! It has to be right or our plan might not work!"

"Okay, okay." They looked around in silence for a moment, "Someone's getting a bit touchy about our favorite green bean lately."

Glinda blushed scarlet, _does he know? _"I don't know what you mean."

Fiyero laughed teasingly, "You're blushing Glinda."

She blushed even harder, "No I'm not."

"Just admit it!"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I know you like her."

"This one's nice." She said grabbing at the nearest dress.

Fiyero rolled his eyes, "Yeah, except for the fact that it's 4 sizes too small, and pink. Stop trying to change the subject. It's so obvious."

"I'm discreet!" she cried before clasping her hand over her mouth.

"HA! You do like her!"

Glinda didn't reply, her hand was still over her mouth and her cheeks were stained crimson. She stared at him for a minute with her big puppy eyes before slowly removing her hand, "Am I really that obvious?"

He shook his head smiling, "Only to me, she doesn't have a clue. Not that Elphaba ever would, our green bean's not very good with people."

"Yeah…" she trailed off, staring into space.

"Glinda? Glindaaa, helloooooo!" he snapped his fingers in front of her face, bringing her back, "Thinking of someone?"

"Ooh, stop it!" she said, slapping him on the arm. She became serious suddenly, "You won't tell anyone will you?"

"Of course not Glinda. Besides, I don't think anyone would believe me, imagine it, I go up to someone, 'Hey, did you know that Glinda the Good likes the Wicked Witch of the West?' I seriously don't think that anyone would consider _that." _

"Well, I can think of one person, and it's the person I want _least _to know."

"Ah. Okay, if it makes you feel better, I swear on pain of death never to tell anyone, especially Elphaba that you like her."

They continued looking for a few more minutes, "Fiyero?" Glinda said meekly

"Yeah?"

"I, um, I think I love her."

Fiyero stared at her for a second, "Good for you. You both deserve some happiness."

"Only if she loves me too. Which I don't think she does."

"Oh Glinda, don't give up hope" he said, thinking _one down, one to go._

* * *

Once they had decided on a dress Glinda had had to run off to organize the wizards leaving ceremony, so Fiyero had to deliver the dress to her rooms for her. He approached the door, and without thinking, knocked. There was a loud thump, as if someone had fallen off the bed, and a scuffling noise, before he said, "Elphaba, it's okay, it's me."

The door opened to reveal a disheveled and annoyed Wicked Witch of the West. "Don't do that, you almost scared me to death. Come in, I need to close the door."

He walked in and saw the sheets were crumpled and half fallen off the bed and a book on the floor. "You made me lose my page." She grumbled, although she couldn't hold a straight face.

"Look at how sorry I am not." He joked, "What have you been doing? Besides reading."

"Not much." She replied as they sat down on the bed, "Thinking over the questions the Ozians might ask me when Glinda tries to clear my name. I'm not coming up with much to be honest."

Fiyero chuckled, "That's probably because they're not the sharpest nails in the box." He paused, "Or is it because you're thinking of someone else?" he added mischievously.

She gave him a pained look, "Fiyero I've told you how I feel about you, you said you felt the same."

"Oh, not _me, _and yeah, you're one of the best friends I've ever had. I meant perhaps a small blonde creature. About yay tall," he held his hand at about Glinda's height, "Big, gorgeous blue eyes, fantastic taste in fashion, large voluptuous-"

"Okay! That's enough!" cried Elphaba, who had been progressively blushing more and more as Fiyero had continued his description.

"So you admit it?"

"Admit what?"

"You're really bad at playing dumb you know Elphaba."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh come on, admit it!" he said, quickly tickling her sides. She squealed, actually squealed, and jumped about a foot in the air.

"Don't do that!"

"Then don't lie to me! I know you like her."

Elphaba sighed. Her ship was sunk. She quickly cast a silencing charm around the room so no one could overhear, "Am I that obvious?"

He grinned, "Only to me. She doesn't know."

She blushed again, "Thank Oz for that. I don't know what I'd do if she found out I loved her _that _way."

He gave her a strange look, "You love her?"

She actually looked like she was going to cry, "Yes. And she could never love me back, not the way I love her. Look at her track record."

"Look at yours."

Her eyes snapped up to meet his, "Stop trying to raise my spirits. I wouldn't tell her anyway, I don't want to lose her. Please don't tell her Fiyero."

He rolled his eyes, "I promise, but it's going to come out eventually."

"Not if I've got anything to say about it. Thanks."

**a.n. so, there you go! Fiyero knows! And probably wants to knock their heads together, I know I would. Please review! If you don't review then I won't update. SO THERE! See you next time!**

**Song I'm listening to right now: 'Exterminate regenerate' by Chameleon circuit. (and my brother swearing about his mashed potatoes)**


	5. Chapter 5

**a.n. Big chapter! Events are moving now! Sad to say not as much Gelphie, but… meh, more plot! Plot is good! ALSO! I got a message of confusion about the doctor who rules of time travel! So I'm posting my version now! Bonus points if you can name the episodes they're from! **

**Crossing into established events is strictly forbidden. Except for cheap tricks.**

**Certain moments in time are fixed. Everything else is in flux; anything can happen, but those certain moments, they have to stand.**

**People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey.... stuff.**

**Time can be rewritten.**

**Enjoy chapter 5!**

Glinda returned later that night after festivating with the Ozians over the Wizards resignation to find Elphaba lying on the far side of the bed in her nightdress, facing away from her. A mischievous grin came across her face as she crept towards the other witch. When she was right behind her she grabbed Elphaba's shoulders suddenly, "Boo!"

"Aah." Replied the green witch sardonically.

Glinda's shoulders slumped, "Darn it. I was going to get you back for when you first got here."

"I can act more afraid if you like." She laughed rolling over to face the Good witch before convulsing with terror. "AAAAHHH! The HORROR! Save me! Please! I'M MEEEEELING!"

"Oh stop it! Why do you keep saying that?"

"What?"

"'I'm meeeeelting!' You've said it about five times a day since you came here."

"I don't know, I thought I performed it quite well, don't you?"

Glinda felt her eyes well up unexpectedly, "Not one bit."

Elphaba looked up at her with concern, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She replied, wiping her eyes on her sleeve.

Elphaba sat up and grabbed her hand, "Hey, I'm not allowed to say that so neither are you. You only thought I was dead for about five minutes."

"And it was the worst five minutes of my life." Glinda said before dissolving into tears. It was too overwhelming, the mere _thought_ of Elphaba being dead, the memory of her misery, which was so dominating and eternal.

Elphaba wrapped her arms around the blonde and she buried her head in her shoulder. "Shhh. It's okay Glin, it's okay. I promise I'll never do that to you again."

Glinda looked up at her, her blue eyes glistening with tears, "You promise?"

Elphaba had to smile at how adorable she looked, even when she had been crying, "Yes, I'll never leave you again."

"Good."

* * *

Once Glinda had cleaned herself up she got some food for them from the kitchens, got Fiyero, who would be acting as a witness of sorts, and they began discussing plans for trying to clear Elphaba's name.

"I don't think we can both go out at first, they wouldn't even listen."

"Agreed." They thought for a moment, "We could use the fact that no one knows that you're friends to our advantage... Hang on, I'm thinking."

Elphaba glanced at Glinda grinning, "So I've heard."

"Shut it you… If say, Glinda goes out first, and says, I don't know, she wants to tell them about a friend of hers. But doesn't actually name you, then we could tell them without any fear of interruption."

They thought for a moment,

"That could work."

"What are we going to do when I _do_ come out? I don't want to be torn apart."

"You won't be torn apart Elphie, don't be so pessimistic."

"I'm not a pessimist. I'm a realist."

"_Elphie!_"

"What? They _would_ kill me if they had the chance and you know it. I don't really know how we can change their minds before they do."

"Maybe we don't have to," interrupted Fiyero, "Remember they all think you're dead. We could convince them of your innocence and then say, 'oh, by the way, she's not dead.'"

Elphaba snorted, "Yeah, that'd go down well."

"Do you have a better suggestion?"

Silence.

Glinda nodded "Good. Now once you come out they will want to ask you questions, any ideas at how to answer them?"

She shot her an exasperated look, "I don't even know what they'll ask, you know these people better than I do, you tell me."

Glinda sighed, "I'm sorry to say that it'll probably be senseless stuff, mostly questions about how you can't be wicked, etcetera. Probably a few questions about, um, you know."

They all nodded, they knew.

Fiyero attempted to recap, "So, Glinda will go out and convince them of your innocence, I'll be standing to the side in case she needs back up. Then once they're convinced, Elphaba will come out and answer their senseless question and _not _scare them with her witchy powers."

"As if I would!"

* * *

It was the next day, when Elphaba was peacefully reading that Glinda had entered the room in a panic.

"You're back early; shouldn't you be farewelling the Wizard?"

"Oh, he's not who we've got to worry about Elphie. The girl missed the balloon. I need you to help; I don't know what to do!"

Elphaba cackled, "She's almost as ditzy as you!"

"I'm not that bad! How can we get her home?"

Elphaba thought for a moment, "I could hide and teleport her home I suppose. You'd have to think up some pretense though, a reason she could vanish into thin air."

Glinda gave her a pained look, "How am I supposed to do that?"

"I don't know! Tell her to knock her heels together or something, say some magic words."

"If I must."

"You must."

* * *

The rest of the day moved as smoothly as possible. Elphaba transported Dorothy out of Oz (conveniently leaving the ruby slippers behind) without being seen and moved back to the room as quickly and unobtrusively as possible.

It was a few days after they had left that they put their plan into action. Glinda had sent out messengers saying she had an announcement to make and now stood out of sight near the entrance to the balcony where she would clear Elphaba's name. The green witch stood next to her, looking beautiful in her white dress, her broom to one side in case things did not go to plan. _I'll never let that happen_, thought Glinda.

Glinda peeked at the sun, "It's show time."

Elphaba smiled, "Good luck."

"For both of us, see you when you're accepted."

"See you."

And Glinda walked on stage.

"Fellow Ozians! I wish to tell you about my best friend. I called you here for a reason, and it is this. My friend was born in Munchkinland, and had a slight _impairment_ from birth. She was very outspoken, and devoted to the Animals. Because of her impairment she was shunned for most of her life, even by her father and her sister. We met at Shiz University and were assigned to be roommates. We hated each other. I would spread awful rumors about her-" There were gasps and exclamations of disbelief from the Ozians.

"Yes, I wasn't always as good as I am now- and she would 'accidentally' ruin one of my prize outfits. All petty things like that. It all went a step too far when I publicly humiliated her at a school dance. I was filled with such guilt that I went and danced with her, although no music was playing. It was after that we became friends.

"Time went on and we became closer. So close, that when she received a request to see the Wizard that she took me with her. When we arrived at the palace she tried to make a request of the Wizard, to help the Animals, but she was ignored. We realized that the Wizard was a fraud, with no power, and was responsible for the Animal repression." There were more exclamations from the crowd.

"That's right, he had no power. When she realized that he was responsible for the Animal repression she fled the throne room, and in doing so, defied the Wizard. She was going to leave, to try to help the Animals on her own, but before she did she asked me to go with her. I was too afraid. If I could go back and do it again I would not have stayed.

"Years passed, I became Glinda the Good and she was pronounced as evil. Fellow Ozians, do you believe that such a person deserves the treatment they have received?"

There was a deafening "NO!" from the crowd.

"Fellow Ozians! My friend was-" she was interrupted by a burst of earsplitting maniacal laughter echoing across the square, along with ominously black storm clouds.

Riding on the back of the clouds was the one person Glinda had never wanted to see again. Morrible.

"Trying to clear the artichoke's name are we Glinda dear? Well it's going to be the last thing you'll ever attempt!" She cried before Glinda flew towards Morrible's cloud.

"Glinda!" called a familiar voice from the balcony.

"Elphie!"

The Ozians screamed. Glinda the Good was being taken and the Wicked Witch of the West had appeared, with a strange tome in her hands.

"Let her go Morrible!"

Morrible laughed again, "So you did survive Elphaba _dear_, I wondered. And why in Oz name would I let her go?"

"I warned you!" replied Elphaba before beginning to chant. Glinda's trajectory changed slightly. She was slowing, and slowly but surely changing direction.

"Oh no you don't!" Morrible began chanting as well.

Glinda had recovered enough of her wits to conjure her bubble and try to steer it back to the balcony. The joint power of the two witches was enough to overpower Morrible's wrath. Once Glinda was safely heading back the balcony Elphaba began chanting up a storm as a growing ball of energy grew above her hands.

Morrible cursed, "If I can't kill you now then I'll have to kill you then!" she cried before clapping her hands and vanishing. Elphaba calmed down slightly, and allowed the ball of energy to fade. The clouds dissipated until they were completely gone. The entire episode couldn't have taken more than ten minutes.

Glinda finally landed on the balcony, "Elphie!" she exclaimed before she was enveloped in a hug from the green witch. She smiled as she breathed in the familiar woodsy scent before she remembered where they were. "Uh, Elphie?"

They turned to look at the stunned crowd of Ozians. Elphaba looked awkward, "Um, hi?"

There was silence for a moment more, and then a voice rang out, "Who are you?"

It really took some work on Elphaba's part not to be sarcastic, "My name is Elphaba Thropp. You would probably know me better as the Wicked Witch of the West."

There were not, as Elphaba expected, screams from the crowd. The sounds that emanated from the people were those of confusion, "But you're wicked! Why did you save Glinda?"

Glinda cut in, "For starters, she's not wicked. _She_ is the friend I was telling you about, and she saved me because we're best friends."

Another voice came from the crowd, "Glinda, if she was never wicked then why didn't you tell us before?"

"Because I was afraid. I couldn't speak out against the Wizard and Morrible. Besides, you wouldn't have believed me."

"I don't believe it! She's evil! Only someone as wicked as her would have such disgusting skin!"

Glinda and Elphaba simultaneously sighed. They had been expecting this, "Actually my skin color was caused by a 'miracle elixir' my mother drank in copious amounts of during my conception. It has nothing to do with my nature."

Glinda gave them an angry look, "You're doing what I did before I met Elphaba! I judged people on their appearances; I believed I was good because people of society told me so. Elphaba showed me that being good is caring about people no matter your first impression. She made me what I am today. Not only that but she just saved my life. Isn't that enough for you to accept her? _I_ haven't done that much to earn your trust, all I've done is given speeches and looked pretty."

She walked to the side of the balcony and retrieved Elphaba's broom, "I cannot make you accept Elphaba. You can choose; she can stay, and rule with me, or you can make her run again. But know this; if she leaves, then I'm going with her."

There was a stunned silence. Then the cheering began. _Finally, I'm doing something good._

Elphaba looked stunned. Glinda smiled, "Hear that Elphie? The wicked witch is finally dead."

**a.n. so! There you go! Fiyero was in the crowd btw meant to be controlling the mob mentality. I FORGOT THE GRIMMERIE! I am SO sorry! I can't believe I did that! Elphaba has it now; pretend she brought it with her from Kiama Ko. Please? Not quite sure when the next chapter's gonna be up, if you have any ideas, please share. I'm powered by reviews.**


	6. Chapter 6

**a.n. I am SO sorry, I meant to update sooner, but I needed to help mum at the school open night and then dad had a go at us for using up too much bandwidth (yeah, typing into word uses up SO much) and I had work and- yeah, you get the picture. On the plus side this chapter is long! And has plot **_**and**_** Gelphie fluff!**

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately I still do not own Wicked or 'Lullaby' by Billy Joel. Sorry. I'll let you know if I do, and I will put them both into the public domain. **

It was several hours before they made it to bed. The Ozians were still shocked about the fact that the Wicked Witch of the West was not evil, and Glinda had striven to prove it to them. Both her and Elphaba answering questions until their throats were sore and, eventually, going down to see the Ozians in person. Glinda internally smirked at the thought. Elphaba had looked like a frightened rabbit, or Rabbit, among them, ready to bolt at any moment. These were people who, only three weeks ago, were howling for her blood, and were now idolizing her. She still looked shell-shocked. _Being accepted would take some getting used to for her, _she thought, _imagine how long it would take for you to adapt to being universally hated._

Glinda smiled and gave Elphaba a sideways hug as they walked to Glinda's room, "It worked."

Elphaba chuckled, "Not exactly the way we planned."

"Elphie I would go through that a thousand times if it got them to accept you. As it was, once was enough."

Elphaba's smile faded, "I'm worried about Morrible, her last statement was either completely mad, or very dangerous."

"What was it? I wasn't paying much attention to her."

Elphaba rolled her eyes, "You really are a ditz sometimes aren't you? She said if she couldn't kill us now she'd have to kill us _then."_

"Elphie that doesn't make any sense."

Elphaba chewed her lip, "That's what's worrying me. It should feel like a clue, but… I don't know."

"We'll work it out later. Thanks for saving me."

"It was my pleasure."

* * *

Glinda had organised for another bed to be brought in to her rooms for Elphaba the next day. Neither were comfortable with the idea of being very far apart, given that there would doubtlessly be a faction of people who still hated Elphaba who could make attempts on both of their lives. And there simply wasn't enough time to bring it in that day, not that either of them minded_._

When Glinda returned from getting food for both of them from the kitchens she found Elphaba sitting on the bed with her knees brought up under her chin, with a meditative look on her face, she didn't look sad, just… thoughtful. She didn't even notice Glinda entering the room.

"What's wrong Elphie?"

Elphaba started, "Nothing."

Glinda gave her a look, "Now what have we agreed about that word?"

Elphaba shook her head, "No, that's exactly it. Nothing's wrong. I can't remember the last time when that was; it's been so long since I haven't had to worry about being hunted down and murdered."

Glinda smiled, sitting down next to her, "How does it feel?"

She finally snapped out of it, "Wonderful!"

They both laughed as they began eating, "It's still almost too much to comprehend. I've never been accepted in my whole life."

"Oh Elphie, I accepted you."

"Not at first."

Glinda cringed, "You're never going to let me forget that are you?"

Elphaba grinned and shook her head.

"You weren't exactly a saint yourself you know!"

"Ah, but _you're_ the one who took it one step too far my sweet."

"And if I hadn't we wouldn't have become friends!"

Elphaba cackled, "Okay, I forgive you if you forgive me. Agreed?"

Glinda beamed, "Agreed."

They continued eating for a few minutes before Glinda spoke up, "Well, the hard part's over, now all we've got to do is give equal rights to the animals."

"And find Morrible."

"Should be easy! Remember, together we're unlimited."

* * *

They soon went to bed, and Elphaba quickly fell asleep. Glinda, on the other hand, did not. She was still terrified over her ordeal earlier. The darkness of the room reminded her of the clouds Morrible was riding. She felt the same terrible fear she had when flying towards her, with absolute certainty that when she reached those clouds she would die. And then Elphaba had appeared and a new realm of fear was opened to the blonde. The knowledge that Morrible might kill Elphaba as well as herself almost paralyzed her. The mere memory of the time when she had believed Elphaba to be dead had caused her to break down. Her breathing became more rapid. There was only one way to get any sleep tonight.

"Elphie?"

Elphaba grunted in her sleep and rolled over.

"Elphie, wake up." She said, nudging her lightly.

Elphaba suddenly jumped, "Wha- Glinda, what is it?"

Glinda suddenly felt ashamed, "I couldn't sleep."

"What's wrong?"

"Noth- oh. Not allowed to say that."

Elphaba grinned, "Damn right. What is it?"

"You'll think I'm a coward."

"Nothing could ever make me think that of you Glin. You should know that."

She took a deep shuddering breath, "I'm scared Elphie. Of Morrible. All I can think about is flying towards her, knowing she was going to kill me. And then you appeared and it was even worse because she was going to kill _you_ as well. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Oh Glin, you managed without me before. I was a fugitive and you were one of the most beloved people in Oz."

"That's not the same as you being dead and you know it. Imagine how you'd feel if _I_ was dead."

Elphaba thought about it for the first time. Imagined a world that didn't have Glinda in it, that she had died. The fear that grasped her was so immediate that it choked her. Glinda couldn't die, it-it wouldn't _work, _she wasn't meant to die! She began taking deep, calming breaths, hoping Glinda wouldn't see how deeply such a thought affected her.

"Now you know how I feel." _Damn_. She noticed.

"But we're okay Glin. Morrible isn't going to come flying through your bedroom window. We beat her, remember?"

"Yeah."

They lay in silence for a minute. "Elphie, can you sing to me?"

Elphaba groaned, "Glinda you know I hate singing."

"Please Elphie?"

_Don't look at the pout, don't look at the pout, don't look at the pout, don't look at the- DAMNIT!_

"Fine. Just stop pouting at me!"

"Thank you Elphie!"

Elphaba cast her mind back to try to remember something to sing. Unbidden, a song her mother had sang to her came into her mind.

_Good night my angel time to close your eyes  
And save these questions for another day  
I think I know what you've been asking me  
I think you know what I've been trying to say_

I promised I would never leave you  
And you should always know  
Where ever you may go  
No matter where you are  
I never will be far away

Despite Elphaba's protestations, she had a beautiful voice. Glinda's eyes were drooping as she snuggled up to the green witch. Elphaba smiled; Glinda never failed to look unbelievably cute.__

Good night my angel now it's time to sleep  
And still so many things I want to say  
Remember all the songs you sang for me  
When we went sailing on an emerald bay

And like a boat out on the ocean  
I'm rocking you to sleep  
The water's dark and deep  
Inside this ancient heart  
You'll always be a part of me

That was certainly true. They would always be a part of each other. Elphaba had said it herself, Glinda was 'like a hand print on my heart' but now it seemed too weak a metaphor. Glinda was a tangible part of her. Elphaba loved her so much.__

Goodnight my angel now it's time to dream  
And dream how wonderful your life will be  
Someday your child will cry and if you sing this lullaby  
Then in your heart there will always be a part of me

Someday we'll all be gone  
But lullabies go on and on  
They never die that's how you and I will be

Glinda was sleeping soundly now, still nestled up to Elphaba. She smiled and placed a gentle kiss on her head. She would do anything for her Glinda, and she had to work out what was happening with Morrible. Later that night Elphaba went out flying.

* * *

Elphaba sighed as she hovered high above the Emerald City on her broom. She had gone out to fly in the hope of clearing her head and possibly getting some idea of where Morrible had gone. And above all, although she wouldn't admit it to herself, to try to stop thinking about Glinda. She couldn't seem to get the blonde out of her head. All she could think about was her golden hair, her beautiful smile, her deep blue eyes- FLASH! Elphaba's thoughts were interrupted by a blinding burst of green light and another figure hovering on a broom in a pointy hat, not ten meters away.

"Who are you?" Elphaba called, preparing herself for a fight. She knew that Glinda had given out some other flying brooms to mask her flight to the palace, but she knew nothing of this person's intention. This could be someone who still believed her to be wicked.

She was answered with a derisive chuckle, "I always thought that we looked rather distinctive. Clearly I was wrong."

Elphaba's eyes narrowed, "What do you mean?"

"Well our verdigris is rather striking isn't it?" said the figure, sweeping off the hat.

Elphaba gasped; this stranger had long dark hair, a tall lean figure, bony digits and phosphorescent verdigris.

In short, Elphaba was talking to herself.

"Oh."

Other Elphaba nodded, "Yeah, I was pretty confused."

"Isn't this the first sign of madness?"

They both thought for a moment, "No, I think that is if there's only one of you and you talk to yourself it's the first sign of madness. This is more paradoxical."

"Right. Hang on, how do I know you're me? Anyone can get a pot of paint."

Other Elphaba thought for a minute, "What did you tell me? Hmmmm, OH! Of course; we're in love with Glinda Upland."

They both blushed at this, "Is that enough?"

Elphaba nodded, "I didn't really doubt it, I just-"

"I know, I'm you remember?"

They both cackled, "We don't even need to say anything then?"

Other Elphaba shook her head, "_You_ don't need to say anything."

"What's the difference?"

Pause. "The difference is that I'm a future version of us. I know things you don't and I need to tell you about them now so you can stop Morrible."

"I'm all ears."

"I know. Morrible's last statement meant that she was going to go back in time and try to kill you and Glinda before your powers became too pronounced, or at least stop you becoming friends. She can then not only take over Oz, but make it so that Glinda was never Glinda the Good, because, if we hadn't become friends with her she would never have come to the Emerald city."

Elphaba paled, "Not good."

"No," agreed other Elphaba, "So I've got to explain how to travel in time to you so that you can go after her. The spells in the Grimmerie, it shouldn't be too hard to find. But it's not just getting there. When you are back inside your own time line you cannot, repeat _cannot _be seen by yourself. You can't remember seeing a grown up you wandering around so if you're seen it changes time, try not to change anything, some things are in flux, but we don't know what they are. Best to leave time be."

Elphaba was frowning with thought, "Okay, anything else?"

"One more thing, watch out for people who you don't know, but who know you. You could have made them your enemies in the future."

"My head hurts. Hold on, how do _you_ know all this?"

"You told me."

"I- what?!? Let me get my head around this. You can remember being me, listening to you, telling me about how to travel in time. You only knew to be here and what to tell me because I'm here to listen."

"Yeah, wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey. Just try to ignore it. You know now, and that's all we need. Good luck."

"You too."

Other Elphaba quickly chanted before vanishing into another flash of green.

**a.n. SO! There you go! One of my longest chapters yet. With plot, Gelphie and time travel, who could ask for more? Thank you's again to all my reviewers, and to those who read but don't review, SHAME ON YOU! As a free advert to Gelphie shippers, try reading 'perfectly capable' by ****thedivinemissk****, ****truly one of the best I've read.**


	7. Chapter 7

**a.n. OKAY! It really starts going now! Thank you all for your patience, I'm sorry about the late update but, as I said, the assignments have been HELLISH. I'm not sure about this chapter, so give me your thoughts, good or bad (especially constructive criticism) my laptops in my room now, which changes the vibe of my writing, in my mind anyway (I sound so hippy)**

Elphaba sighed again as she flew towards her and Glinda's room. _Does life _ever_ get easier? _She thought. In the beginning all she had to worry about was people making the odd snide remark about her skin. Then it sky rocketed into being hunted down and hated by all of Oz, constantly having to worry about the Gale force and the Wizard trying to kill her. And _then_ once she had finally managed to sort things out, faking her death, preparing to leave, her feelings for Glinda had showed up. And she thought being hunted down by an entire nation was hard! And, incidentally, before she had managed to deal with _that_, she ended up listening to a future version of herself tell her that she had to travel backwards in time to capture Morrible. She doubted Glinda would want to be left behind either.

She groaned before rocketing through the window, landing with a soft 'thump' next to the glass, _I hope I didn't wake Glinda_. She needn't have worried.

As Elphaba tried to tiptoe to the bed she was accosted by the rabid blonde, "Where have you _been_?!? Do you have any _idea _how worried I was? Oz! Literally MINUTES after I tell you how miserable I'd be if I lost you, you decide to go FLYING OUT THE WINDOW!!!"

She paused for a second, breathing deeply through her nose, sounding, although Elphaba would never say it, like a bull that was about to charge. She tried her best not to laugh at the thought of her friend as a Bull (undoubtedly a pink, frilly Bull), but her lips twitched defiantly. This did not go unnoticed, "Oh, you think it's funny do you?! Think scaring poor Glinda half to death is funny?"

Elphaba held up her hands in a show of peace, "Of course not Glinda, I just had to clear my head, so I went out. You'd never believe who I met."

Glinda pouted, "I don't care. You left me here again, you mean green thing."

Elphaba did smile now, before sweeping Glinda up in a hug, "I'm sorry my sweet, I didn't think you'd notice I was gone. I just needed some time to think."

Glinda melted the second Elphaba wrapped her arms around her. She couldn't even pretend to stay angry, "Fine. I forgive you, but don't do it again. I was scared to death when I woke up and you weren't here."

"I'm sorry, like I said; I didn't think you'd wake up."

"Yeah…" Glinda trailed off as they fell into a comfortable silence, eventually separating and moving to the bed.

"Hang on. Who did you meet?"

"What?"

Glinda rolled her eyes, "You said you met someone, who was it?"

"Oh. I'm not sure how to say this exactly, it was me."

"Oh, okay… wait, _what?!?"_

"Funny, that was about my reaction." Said Elphaba chuckling, "It was a future version of me, who had come to tell me that Morrible has traveled back in time. That's what she meant; we're too powerful here and now so she's going to try to kill us before."

"Oh."

"Yes, she also told me how to travel in time myself so I could go back and stop her."

Glinda's eyes narrowed, "What do you mean _you _can go back and stop her?"

Elphaba groaned internally. She had been afraid of this, "You can't come Glinda, you've got to-"

"Don't even try Elphie. I'm not staying behind and that's final."

Elphaba heaved a great sigh, "Then who's going to rue Oz while we're away? We're at a tipping point here Glinda; we can't afford to have this go the wrong way."

"Fiyero can keep control while we're away," she frowned in thought, "Elphie, if it's time travel, why can't we come back, say, ten clock ticks after we left?"

Elphaba opened her mouth to reply, paused, then closed it again. She frowned. Glinda smirked, "Oh, did you not think of that Elphie? What a pity, now you _have_ to let me come with you."

Elphaba scowled. How could she be so annoying and yet so endearing at the same time? "Fine. You can come. But we should still tell Fiyero in case something goes wrong and someone needs to rule."

"That's fine with me. There's no one else I'd rather rule."

"Me too. Now can we try to at least get a _little_ sleep tonight?"

"If we must."

* * *

They woke late in the morning to Fiyero knocking on the door, "Wakey wakey, rise and shine! It's a biiiiig day today so time to get up!"

Elphaba glared at the door groggily, "I hate cheerful people."

Glinda pouted, "I'm cheerful."

"I know." Elphaba smirked, waking up a little now, "Hang on Fiyero! We need to get changed."

"I'm giving you five minutes before I come in, clothes or no."

Glinda blushed furiously and Elphaba rolled her eyes, "Fine, but it's your own fault if you get hexed."

"That hurts Elphaba. You're killing me here, I'm in pain."

"Deal with it." she replied as she turned her back so Glinda could get changed.

A minute or so later, when Elphaba was half way through changing his voice ran out again, "Can I come in now?"

"How about no?"

"But Elphie, it's been five minutes!" he teased.

"I don't care; you can wait out there until I'm ready."

"But it's cold out here! Pleeeeeaaase let me in!"

Elphaba, now dressed, rolled her eyes at Glinda, smiling, "What a pity you can't feel cold."

"I can sooo! And I'm getting lonely out here all by myself."

"My heart bleeds for you."

"Okay that does it, I'm coming in" he said, pushing the door open. He glared when he saw they were both changed, "How long has it been since I could have come in?"

"Oh, about fifteen minutes." Replied Glinda teasingly.

"Really?"

"No, I'm joking." She said before she and Elphaba dissolved into laughter.

"Oh yeah, sure, mock the poor scarecrow." He sniffed, pretending to cry. Once they were all under control again they walked down to the dining hall for breakfast and to discuss tactics.

"Well," Fiyero began, "All we need to do now is give equal rights to the Animals, and get rid of the factions of people who still want Elphaba dead."

The girls looked awkward, "Yeah, about that-"

"We need to, uuh" Glinda trailed off.

"What? We're not going to free the Animals after all? Glinda's going to burn all her clothes and wear nothing but black? We're going speed dating?"

"Yes we are, I doubt I could convince her of that and HELL no! Respectively" replied Elphaba smirking, "Although it's almost more unbelievable than those."

Fiyero looked impressed, "Okay, shoot."

"Well, last night I couldn't sleep," Elphaba began, deliberately leaving out Glinda's terror, "So I went out for a fly to clear my head. Once I'd been out for a little while there was a massive green flash and I saw another figure on a broom in a hat just like mine."

Fiyero looked confused, "I haven't seen a hat as unique as yours."

"Quite. I didn't recognize this person at first, but once they removed the hat it became obvious. I was talking to myself."

"Right. You're going mad."

Elphaba rolled her eyes, "No I'm not. It was me, but from the future. She'd come to warn me that Morrible had gone into the past to try and kill me and Glinda before we got as powerful as we are now, and to tell me how to travel back to find her."

"Great. As if things weren't difficult enough as it is. I guess you need me to stay in charge while you're away?"

Glinda smirked smugly as Elphaba replied, "If we're lucky you won't need to. Glinda had the thought that because we're traveling in time and not distance we could arrive here an instant after we leave."

"Then what do you need me for? Do you need me to come to?"

They both shook their heads, "We need you because my spells have a tendency to go wrong. Case and point" she said looking at him sadly.

"Hey, I don't blame you so you shouldn't either. You saved my life."

She shook her head, "I should have been able to do better than that."

Glinda gave her a stern look, "Elphie, you don't blame me for what happened to Nessa do you?"

Elphaba shook her head, "No." _I blame myself._

"Then how can you blame yourself for what happened to Fiyero? You were only trying to save him, and you succeeded!"

Elphaba looked at them both with haunted eyes, "And Boq? Nessa? What's the righteousness in what I did to them?"

"What do you mean? If anyone's to blame for what happened to Nessa it's me. What happened to Boq anyway? I never knew."

Elphaba chuckled darkly, "Fiyero's seen him since, even if he didn't know. I'll tell you when we get some privacy, I don't want anyone to overhear. Anyway, if the spell goes wrong will you keep control for us?"

"Of course. So what happened to Boq?

* * *

Once they were in the rooms Elphaba began her story, "I went to visit Nessa, just before I came to the Emerald city for the second time, and you'd just announced your engagement." Glinda blushed at the memory of her audacity.

"I had gone to ask father to stand by me, but I saw Nessa first. I was in the closet. When I came out and told her why I came she told me that father was dead, that he had died of shame after what I did. I didn't know."

She drew a deep breath, "So I asked her for help because she was the governor. She said that she wouldn't because I'd never helped her."

"What planet's she been living on?!?" exploded Fiyero.

"How in Oz did she come up with that?!" exclaimed an outraged Glinda at the same time, "All you DID was help Nessa, you went with her everywhere! You even got me into sorcery, _me _your worst enemy at the time, for her! And she says it's nothing!"

Elphaba shook her head, "I abandoned her, I think her wording was 'you fly around Oz helping Animals you've never even met, but you never even thought to use your powers to rescue me?!' and she was right, I hardly ever thought of her."

"But you still cared for her. No matter what she did to you, you still looked after her."

Fiyero frowned, "So, she wanted you to allow her to walk?"

Elphaba nodded.

"But there isn't a spell for everything!" cried Glinda.

"That's what I said, but I managed to enchant her shoes with a spell from the Grimmerie. She could walk. But then she called Boq. He was terrified to see me; I guess propaganda got to him, he had a knife. When Nessa showed him that she could walk he dropped it though. He was ecstatic." She paused.

"But not for the reason Nessa had hoped. He thought now that she was independent that he could go free. Specifically to come here, to appeal to you, Glinda, I don't think he ever got over the crush he had on you at Shiz." Glinda blushed.

"Nessa was furious. She'd never been denied anything she wanted in her entire life. She went to the Grimmerie, and tried to read a spell that would make him 'loose his heart to her' but she got it wrong. He just lost his heart." Elphaba looked like she was going to cry.

"I did my best to save him, but spells can't be reversed. I made it so that he could live without a heart. Is any of this sounding familiar scarecrow?" she asked, in her 'wicked witch' voice.

Fiyero was shaking his head repeatedly, "Boq's the tin man?"

Elphaba nodded before allowing the burning tears to fall, "And," she hiccupped as the other two tried to comfort her, "If I hadn't granted Nessa the ability to walk then she wouldn't have been outside that day, she wouldn't have been-" Here she couldn't go on, but broke down into sobs.

"Every member of my family has died because of _me!"_

Fiyero and Glinda hugged the distraught witch for a moment before Glinda slapped her on the shoulder, "Elphaba if you're going to blame yourself for Nessa's death then you have to blame me as well; I'm more at fault than you."

Elphaba sniffled a bit but did not respond. Then Fiyero said his bit, "It's neither of your faults. In my mind, such as it is, it's only your fault for what happened to Nessa if you meant to hurt her. Elphaba, you just wanted to help her, and Glinda was hurt at us leaving, but even then you didn't tell them to hurt Nessa did you? You only said to spread a rumor. It's only one person's fault that Nessa is dead. And that's Morrible."

Elphaba gave a wet smile, "What is it about you two? No one else has seen me break down, and no one else can make me feel better."

They all smiled again and embraced, before Fiyero said, "So, when would you be leaving for the past?"

"Hopefully today, there's no sense in dawdling." Replied Elphaba, "All we'd need to do is pack a bag with some money and a change of clothes, and we could go."

Glinda nodded in agreement, "Have you found the spell in the Grimmerie yet?"

"No, but other me said it wouldn't be too hard to find. How about you pack a _small_ bag while I try to find it? And if you get any ideas about where she's gone tell me."

* * *

An hour later they were ready to go, "Okay, have we got everything?" asked Elphaba.

"Yep."

"Money?"

"Check."

"Clothes?"

"Check," Said Glinda guiltily remembering the beautiful deep purple dress she had packed for Elphaba, she did have to change clothes now, as they had gotten rid of her 'wicked witch' dress. _Well what did she expect?_ "Grimmerie?"

"Yes. Did you have any ideas, either of you?"

They shook their heads, "Only that she could try to kill you as small children, it'd be a lot easier."

Elphaba inclined her head, "I was going to start there. But it's a good idea, we'll have to go through chronologically."

"Okay, time to go." Said Glinda, "Hopefully we'll be back before you know it!"

Fiyero smiled, "Good luck."

"See you."

Elphaba began chanting and as she finished there was a deafening crash and a giant flash of green and pink light before both witched vanished.

**a.n. LONGEST CHAPTER YET! WHOOT! And also my first cliffhanger! Hopefully I don't get into a habit of it, like some writers, not to name any names (I mean YOU!) Once again, may be a little longer with the update. My dad's bitching about the amount of bandwidth we use up (I know) EXAMPLE! This chapter could have been up at about (*checks clock*) 7:15 pm AEST on the 23****rd**** of March. But dad took down the internet so now it's not. *sigh***

**PRESS THE GREEN BUTTON! Every time you review a green baby is born. Share the Elphie love, and review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**a.n. fantastic news! It wasn't just the one night! Dad's taking down the internet EVERY NIGHT until the end of the month, so I may not be able to post as quickly, cos if I finish the chapter I still may have to wait up to 24+ hours to get online (goodie) (I was being sarcastic there :P)**

_Elphaba began chanting and as she finished there was a deafening crash and a giant flash of green and pink light before both witches vanished._

* * *

Glinda squeezed her eyes shut as she was assaulted by very bright light all of a sudden. When she opened them again she was in a foresty area, surrounded by trees, the sound of children laughing echoing from nearby. "Where are we?"

"Munchkinland." Replied a dazed Elphaba.

"Are you okay Elphie? You look a bit sick."

"Yeah, that spell's a strong one. I'll be fine in a minute though."

"Sit down for a bit, we've got all the time in the world," she giggled, "Speaking of time, when are we?"

Elphaba smirked at Glinda's (bad) pun, "I'm about two, and Nessa hasn't been born yet so Mother's still alive. We're over through there." She pointed in the direction of the noise, "We'll have to hide when we go over, or at least I will. There aren't many green-skinned people." She sat for a moment, trying to think of anything she'd missed, "Oh! Something I haven't told you; my first set of teeth, which I was born with, were… well, sharp."

"Elphie, your teeth are sharp now."

Elphaba cackled, "Not like that. They were more like fangs. The first thing I did after I was born was bite off a midwife's finger."

Glinda winced and chuckled, "That wasn't very nice."

"I know. But give me a break; I was only five seconds old."

"Once again, I forgive you. Why are you telling me now though?"

Elphaba looked slightly uncomfortable, "Well, if you run into little me, don't try to touch her. She doesn't like being touched."

Glinda grinned, "Some things never change."

"Oh, ha ha. Come on let's go."

* * *

Once they arrived at the area where little Elphaba, Melena and Elphaba's Nanny, who had died a few years after Nessa was born, were they quickly hid in the trees, within hearing range of Melena, Nanny and another woman who they heard Nanny call Gawnette.

"They spread no such thing." They heard Melena snap at Gawnette. Glinda was confused at what they were talking about but Elphaba was merely staring at her mother with wonder. So this was the woman who gave her life, the only woman to ever care for her. _Well, _she thought looking sideways at Glinda, _not the only woman_.

"No throwing Elphaba dear!" Nanny called over at little Elphaba, who was trying (and failing) to play with the other children. Glinda giggled at the sight of her. Elphaba smirked.

"I'm only saying what I hear. They say at night Quadlings fall asleep and their souls climb out through their mouths and go abroad." Both of the eavesdropping witched laughed quietly at that.

"Any idea if Morrible's here?" whispered Glinda.

"No idea at all, my sweet. Remember, I'm only two. I can't remember much from then."

"We'll just see if we overhear anything."

"Darling no rocks," shrilled Nanny, "None of the other children have rocks!"

"They do now." Observed Gawnette. Glinda looked horrified, then furious. She looked ready to go and tear the other children limb from limb. Elphaba noticed.

"Don't!" she whispered urgently to the Good Witch. Glinda looked at her questioningly.

"This is the first time I came into contact with the cruelty of the outside world; if you stop it now then you'll change me fundamentally."

Glinda nodded but still looked saddened at the sight of a segregated little Elphaba.

"Now there's blood, how vexing," said Nanny, to Glinda's continuing outrage, "Children, let Elphie up so I can wipe that cut. And I didn't bring a rag. Gawnette?"

"Elphie, hold me back, I'm gonna hurt someone."

Elphaba smirked and grabbed the back of Glinda's dress.

"No biting," said Gawnette to one of the little boys and then, seeing Elphaba open her mouth to retaliate, raised herself to her feat and screamed, _"No biting, for the love of mercy!"_

"Aren't children divine?" said Nanny.

Elphaba cackled softly at that and Glinda gave a grudging grin before turning to the green witch, "I never knew it was that bad Elphie. Why didn't you tell me?"

Elphaba shrugged, "This wasn't as bad as it seemed. If anything it got worse at Shiz. You know the saying, 'sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me'? I don't think the person who came up with that had much experience. I perfected the art of pretending I didn't care, but when everyone, _everyone_, insults you on sight, it hurts. I even started to believe what they said about me. No one denied it until you."

Glinda smiled and pulled Elphaba into a one armed hug, "But they were lies. No one who said those things about you knew you."

Elphaba smiled too now, "I know. I don't think Morrible's here do you? Shall we try to find little Galinda?"

"Let's."

* * *

To save Elphaba's energy, they did a teleportation spell rather than travel in time again. This time when they reappeared they were in a park on an empty gravel path, Glinda gasped, "I know where we are!"

Elphaba smirked, "Good, because I haven't got a clue." She said sarcastically, "No, wait; we wouldn't be in Gillikin would we?"

Glinda pouted and shoved her, "You're so mean."

Elphaba cackled, "I know. Now where are you?"

Glinda looked thoroughly confused, "I'm here Elphie, right in front of you." Elphaba gave her a look and a light went off, "Oh! I don't quite know, but I think I should be around here somewhere."

They wandered around for a little while before they spotted, and hid from, a little Galinda. She was sitting alone on the grass with some dolls, playing quietly. Elphaba frowned slightly and cocked her head at the small blonde figure. She looked around to be sure there was no doubt before turning to Glinda, "Why isn't anyone else here?"

Glinda blushed, "Um, well, I didn't play with the other children much, Momsie wouldn't let me. I think I might have, kinda, run away from home."

Elphaba looked at her for a moment before cackling loudly, "What, and you took your _dolls_ with you? I can't imagine that was too effective. Where _is_ home anyway?"

Glinda blushed even harder, "Technically we're still in it. This is our 'garden' of sorts, so…" she trailed off.

Elphaba cackled again, but it was quickly stifled as they saw Galinda look in their direction and begin to make her way over, "Hello?"

They stiffened, "Hide!" hissed Elphaba, "its okay if she sees me but you cannot be seen by yourself!"

Glinda, for once, didn't argue and hurled herself into a nearby clump of bushes. Galinda still approached, "Is someone there?"

Elphaba took a deep breath and stepped into view, "Hello little girl."

Galinda's mouth formed a perfect 'o', "You're green. Are you a fairy?"

Elphaba chuckled, "I don't think I'm pretty enough to be a fairy, do you?"

To her surprise, Galinda nodded emphatically, "You're really pretty; I bet you are a fairy. Can you do magic?"

_This I can do_, "What, like this?" she asked before spreading her arms causing several multicolored butterflies to appear and flutter away.

Galinda squealed, "You _are_ a fairy! Why didn't you tell me?" she said with a pout

_God it's bad enough when Glinda does it. _"I'm searching for someone. Have you seen a woman who's old, wrinkly and looks a bit like a fish?" subtly never works with children.

Galinda nodded again, "With terrible fashion?"

Elphaba smirked, "That's her. Where is she?"

"She's been helping momsie and popsicle; I think she's a new serpent."

"Right. Where is she right now?"

Galinda giggled, "Looking for me. I ran away."

"That was brave of you."

She giggled again, "You're a nice fairy. What's your name?"

_What the hell? _"Elphaba"

Galinda started to say something else when a horribly familiar voice rang out, "Galinda? Are you here deary? Your parents are worried."

Elphaba's eyes widened and she threw herself out of view again, "Grownups can't see me!" she hissed at Galinda, the first feasible lie she could think of for a three year old.

Galinda looked terrified as Morrible approached, "There you are. Is anyone else here? I thought I heard voices."

Galinda shook her head. "Good, now dear, hold still, I've got a surprise for you. Close your eyes." Said Morrible with a malicious grin on her face.

Once Galinda had her eyes firmly shut, Morrible began chanting quietly, causing Galinda to freeze in place. She then retrieved a vial of poison from her pocket undoubtedly about to kill the child, before she was surrounded by a large pink bubble. "What!?! Oh, Shiz."

Glinda and Elphaba removed themselves from their hiding space fixing Morrible with icy glares, "I'll give you one chance Morrible; come with us now, willingly, and you will get a fair trial when we return to our time. If not then you will rot in southstairs for the rest of your life."

Morrible sneered, "I got out of that place once, and I can do it again. Don't you two _ever_ give up?"

Glinda smiled coldly, "No."

"A pity." And she muttered a quick spell before vanishing again.

Glinda stamped her foot angrily, "Damn it, I was hoping that would hold her."

Elphaba shrugged, "We would have had to keep looking anyway, from her reaction I'm guessing this isn't the first time she saw us," She paused, "And now for Galinda."

Glinda looked concerned, "You can fix her right?"

"If I couldn't I wouldn't be talking to you now."

"Oh. Right."

"You should get out of sight."

"Okay fairy." She said with a giggle.

Elphaba rolled her eyes and began to chant, slowly undoing the paralysis on the girl. Suddenly she gasped and doubled over, "Wha-? Fairy Elphaba? What happened?"

Elphaba smiled at the name, "I fought off the nasty lady, she's not coming back. Now it's time for you to have a sleep my pretty." She placed her hands gently on Galinda's temples and began to chant softly. In moments the girl was asleep again.

"What did you do?" Glinda asked as she came out of the trees.

"I wiped her memory of what happened. You don't remember so she can't. Your parents will show up soon, find her, and take her home. Any residual memory will be put down to a dream."

"Did you really have to?"

"Yes." She replied firmly, "Imagine if you did remember, then went to Shiz, and lo and behold, it's the fairy from when you were… how old are you here?"

Glinda rolled her eyes, "Three."

"Three. Anyway, it would first off be incredibly confusing and secondly, other me said that changing time could have serious consequences."

Glinda pouted, "Okay, what do we do now?"

"I guess we should find a place to spend the night and go some when else tomorrow."

"There's an inn in the town."

"Let's go then."

**a.n. There we go! I admit, not the best chapter, I took the bit with little Elphaba from the book (with certain parts omitted/added for Elphaba and Glinda to be there) I just made up the bit with Galinda. Thank you all for your patience and wonderful reviews. There is no better feeling than posting a chapter before going to bed, then waking up to find 5/6 reviews. Better than Christmas morning I'm telling you.**


	9. Chapter 9

**a.n. I am SO sorry, I really meant to update sooner, but I have another long list of excuses you really don't care about to explain why. I was ALSO going to make this chapter longer, I already had the first part of the next chapter written, but I realized how long it had been since I'd updated and went 'AHHHHHHH!' so here it is. Not much plot (AGAIN) I really need to get out of this habit. **

They got a room at the inn for the night with little difficulty. Elphaba had worn a head covering and gloves, claiming her religion forbid her from showing her skin, and they had rented a two bed room. The room was small, without being cramped. The word that sprung to mind was 'cozy'. Another peculiar thing was that, after a few minutes they realized it looked almost identical to their dorm at Shiz. Once they had settled in, putting their few belongings away, they headed down to the village for dinner, Elphaba again covering her head and arms.

Glinda at once pointed out a quaint restaurant, out of place among the bright lights and ostentation of the other shops.

"That was my favorite restaurant when I was younger. I haven't been there in ages. Oz, I haven't been _home _in ages." She said to Elphaba.

"How long constitutes 'ages', my sweet?"

Glinda's head drooped, "Before you… left, in the Emerald city. After that I was too caught up in becoming Glinda the Good, and helping people survive the _terror_ that the Wicked Witch was causing them." She said this part sarcastically, "I saw my parents, of course. They visited, but I never came back here."

Elphaba pulled her into a fleeting hug, "That's terrible Glin. Even I went back to Munchkinland, if only briefly. When we get home we'll go and visit your parents. If you want to that is."

Glinda smiled, giving Elphaba butterflies, "Of course I want to Elphie, thanks. But for now, let's go! It's the best restaurant in town."

* * *

"So, where do you think we should go tomorrow?"

They had managed to get a private table in a separate part of the restaurant, and after the main course was served Elphaba had removed her head covering. Glinda had ordered chicken with a creamy sauce and Elphaba had a vegetable soup, which, she claimed, tasted better than it looked.

"I think Shiz. I know we agreed to go chronologically, but it's just occurred to me that it saves her a trip if she could get us both at the same time."

Glinda nodded, "That makes sense, but your powers were pretty strong at Shiz weren't they? You could wheel Nessa's chair back to you without a word."

Elphaba nodded, "But I wasn't anywhere near as powerful as I am now. On top of that I didn't have any formal tuition. And I was terrified of it. Imagine if every time you got angry or upset, things broke, miniature natural disasters formed around you, you warped things. And you had no idea how. It's no wonder I was so introverted."

Glinda pouted, "Not so much now, are you?"

"Not as much. I guess we have to thank Morrible for something." She teased

Glinda pouted more and sat there in a sulk for a minute, not looking at the green witch. Until that is, she was hit in the head by a scrunched up napkin. She snapped her head up to see Elphaba looking at her innocently. She laughed, "Leave that one to me Elphie. You're not meant to look innocent."

Elphaba smirked, "I'm not so bad at it am I?"

"Yep, you are. So, you don't want to go to the end of our time at Shiz?"

"No."

"You want to go at the beginning?"

"Yes." Elphaba replied, becoming confused at Glinda's reluctance.

"The _very_ beginning?"

Elphaba chuckled as she understood, "Glin it'll be okay. You won't meet teenage either of us, it's not allowed."

"I hope so. I also hope you realize that you're not _allowed_ to go flying from the Emerald Palace on a broom. Nor is it _allowed _for you to steal the Wizards spell book."

Elphaba blushed, "Shut up."

Glinda grinned, "Let's get the bill, I'm getting sleepy."

Elphaba put her head covering back on, they paid the bill and left for the inn.

* * *

"Elphie do you want to play truth or dare?"

They had returned to the inn, Glinda had had a shower and Elphaba had applied her oils, and they were now ready for bed. But, it seemed Glinda was inexplicably not tired any more. She had sat with Elphaba on her bed and whined at her to do something with her.

Elphaba groaned, "Glinda I know that we're going back in time, but that is no reason to act like a kid."

Glinda pouted, "Fine. What about deepest secret?"

"I don't even know what that is and I don't like it."

"Elphie! I'll explain. We both start off with five points and we take it in turn to ask each other questions. You don't have to answer but every time you choose not to you lose a point. Whoever ends with the most points wins."

Elphaba stared at her for a second, "So it's truth or dare without the dare."

Glinda pouted again, "Not really."

Elphaba grinned, she never could refuse her anything, "Fine. But I do _not_ want to stay up all night playing your game."

Glinda squealed, "Thank you Elphie! Okay, I'll go first."

"Déjà vu." Muttered Elphaba as Glinda thought.

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

"Okay. I'll start easy, what's your favorite color?"

Elphaba blushed slightly, "Well, it's two, not one. I'll tell you one of them."

"Elphie! Tell me both, it's the rules."

She blushed more, avoided looking at Glinda and mumbled something to the floor.

"What was that?"

"Pink and green." Elphaba said louder.

There was a pause as Glinda processed this before smiling at the green witch, "You're so sweet Elphie."

"Shut up. What's _your_ favorite color?"

Glinda smiled and bit her lip slightly, "Pink and green."

They looked at each other for a moment before bursting out laughing, "Oh Glin, what are we going to do with you?"

Glinda grinned, "The same thing we're going to do with you."

"Touché. It's your turn."

"Umm, what's your favorite book?"

"You're good at picking hard ones, you know that? So many books…" she trailed off, "I suppose it's one Doctor Dillamond recommended for me, it's called, 'Animal farm'."

"What's it about? It certainly sounds like your sort of book."

"It is. Basically, the Animals on a farm rebel against the farmer and kick him out."

"Happy ending then."

"Not really. Because that's only the beginning Glin. The Pigs take charge of the farm, and gradually become more like the farmer. More cruel, taking more of the benefits the farmer did. In the end the other Animals couldn't tell the difference between the Pigs and the humans."

Glinda didn't respond for a moment, "That makes you think. You and I know the only difference between Animals and people is their appearance. But what about animals and Animals? Or animals and People?"

"I've been wondering the same thing for years. Now, I believe it's my turn. Do you own anything that is black?"

Glinda blinked, "Define 'anything', I do have some black pens and some-"

"Okay! Anything black that is made of fabric."

Glinda reluctantly nodded, "I kept your pillow after you left. It reminded me of you. I didn't put it in that compartment because it didn't matter if anyone found it."

Elphaba stared at her sadly for a moment, "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For leaving you. I didn't think you'd miss me."

Glinda wrapped her arms around the green witch, "Of course I missed you. How could you think I wouldn't? You're the best friend I ever had."

"You're mine too Glin." She said, before lightly shrugging off her arms, "It's your turn."

"Ooh! Why can't I think of anything?" She exclaimed, without thinking she fell back on an old classic, "Who would you turn gay for?"

Elphaba blushed five different shades of green until she was so flushed Glinda could feel the heat radiating off her, "Pass."

Glinda pouted, "You're no fun." Her mind was racing though, _It couldn't be me could it?_ She mentally laughed, _Get over yourself, not everyone in Oz wants you._

Elphaba's face was slowly returning to normal, "What was the worst day of your life?"

Glinda had to think for a few minutes, "I've managed to narrow it down to two. I really can't decide."

"That's okay."

Glinda took a deep breath, "The first one was when you left, with Fiyero." Elphaba looked down at that, _What was I thinking taking him with me? Oh yeah, I was lonely, I just wouldn't admit it_. "Sorry"

Glinda shook her head, "It wasn't your fault, you leaving was a part of it, but it was also the night I told them to go for Nessa to get to you."

Elphaba stared at her sternly, "You're not allowed to blame yourself remember? Now stop it or I'll guilt trip myself again."

Glinda smiled a little, "Okay. The other was the night I got back to Shiz. After you left the first time. I kept having horrible dreams that you were dying, or being thrown into Southstairs. And when I woke up you weren't in your bed. You _could_ have been killed or arrested and I wouldn't know." She was on the verge of tears now.

Elphaba took her in her arms and gently stroked her hair, "Shhh, it's okay Glin. I'm here, I'm not dead, and I'm certainly not in a cell." She looked around, "If I am it's a very nice cell." This got a giggle from the blonde, "It's your turn."

She broke away, though still sat close to the green witch, "Okay, what was the worst day of _your_ life?"

"There are a few. The day Nessa died is up there. Not just because she died, but because we-" she broke off. They both knew, "But there's one that is probably the worst. It was just after I ran away. I'd landed in the great Gillikin forest. Suddenly logic and reason came back. I was telling myself the same things you were telling me at the palace, but this time I was listening. And then another thing hit me a lot harder."

Her voice grew softer, "I realized that I would never go back to Shiz, and all it entailed. We would never spend another night arguing about whether you could give me a makeover. We would never go out to the pub with Fiyero and Boq again. I would never redo your homework for you when you were out again. And it hurt so much that I broke down there and then."

Glinda hugged her tightly as tears ran down their faces, "Maybe we should organize a school reunion when we get back."

Elphaba smirked, "Now wouldn't that be a sight, 'my name is Elphaba Thropp. Since leaving Shiz I have terrorized Oz, saved some Animals from persecution, made recompense with the people I have hurt and am now working with Glinda the Good in ruling this land.'"

Glinda grinned as she released Elphaba, "'My name is Galinda or Glinda Upland. Since leaving Shiz I have helped rule Oz, become engaged, which did not work out, cleared the name of the Wicked Witch of the West and am now ruling Oz with said witch'"

They both laughed, "Oh, wouldn't Fiyero be good!" said Elphaba, laughing again at the thought of the straw man introducing himself.

"Or Boq!" cried Glinda, "That ungrateful kettle."

Elphaba grinned, "Don't mock the kettle Glinda, without it there would be no coffee."

Glinda gasped and cried, "Sorry mighty kettle gods! I didn't mean it!" causing Elphaba to laugh again. They both yawned suddenly.

"Okay," said Elphaba, "I think it's time for sleep. We've got another big day tomorrow."

Glinda pouted, "If we must."

They climbed into their respective beds and fell asleep.

**a.n. as you can see, very little plot. Another thing I'm working on is making Morrible a bit more formidable; at the moment it's just 'they find her and she runs away' which isn't very dramatic is it? good news is that the internet is back, and relatively under control, we can't watch videos after 12 midday but… meh.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A.n. I am SO sorry!!! Please forgive me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hate myself; I NEVER WANT TO TAKE MORE THAN A WEEK TO UPDATE AGAIN!! I probably will though, *sigh* damn assignments, damn dad (he's fixed the internet though. Sort of) damn mum for going to Europe and leaving me with dumb and dad. BUT YAY FOR DEFFYNOBLE FOR UPDATING!!! I KNEW competitive motivation would work!**

They woke the next day to the faint rays of morning sun streaming through their window. Elphaba yawned slightly, stretched and got up, all traces of weariness gone. She walked over to Glinda's bed, "Glinda, get up, we've got to go."

She was rewarded with a groan and a pillow thrown in her direction. "Come on! We've got to go."

"No."

"Then you leave me no choice." Replied Elphaba, grabbing the bottom of her sheets. Glinda looked at her with dread, "You wouldn't."

"Oh, I would." And she whipped of the bed sheets, causing Glinda to shriek and curl up.

"Get up!"

"Elphie! Give back my blanket!"

"Glinda we've got to go!" she exclaimed exasperatedly.

"Oh fine." She clambered up, "Happy now?"

"Immensely."

"Meanie."

"Yep. Now it's time to get changed, then we'll go."

"Fine. You go first." Said Glinda, remembering the dress she had packed for Elphaba, which wasn't exactly her taste, not that it was Glinda's either. It was just, different.

"Uh, okay." Elphaba walked into the bathroom, where the bag with their clothes was and closed the door. There was silence for a few minutes before the door opened to reveal Elphaba, holding a deep purple dress. It was floor length, round neck and the arms came out the lower they got, forming pointed ends. It was certainly a dress for a sorceress. Not a witch.

"Glinda, what is this?" deathly calm.

Glinda giggled, "That, Elphie, is a dress. You do know what a dress is, don't you?"

Elphaba gave her a hard stare. There was only one person in Oz who was impervious to her hard stare. Unfortunately it was Glinda. Damn. "Why?"

Glinda giggled again, feigning ignorance, "Because you need to change your clothes now Elphie. We disposed of your 'invincible' dress, so now you need to change your clothes every day, like everyone else."

"But- I don't- Glinda- Argh!" Elphaba managed to get out.

Glinda stopped teasing. Elphaba had a genuinely upset look on her face. "Elphaba it's just a dress. Granted it's not your usual style, but it's nice, and it suits you. What's wrong with it?"

Elphaba bit her lip and looked down, Glinda only used her full name when she was really serious, "I- I don't know. It just seems too, _nice_. It doesn't seem like something I should own. I've never had anything like this. That was Nessa's stuff, I got the old books."

"Elphie it's just a dress. I don't want you to look like the wicked witch for the rest of your life. But if you want to you can wear the dress you wore yesterday."

Glinda looked so disappointed. Elphaba hated herself. When she saw the dress she had assumed it had been a joke, well intentioned, but she didn't like being made fun of. But… now that she looked at the dress she realized it wasn't that bad. It wasn't her style, true, but it was nice. One of the very few shades of purple that didn't clash with her skin. She suddenly understood that Glinda must have spent a lot of time picking it out. Without a word she went back into the bathroom and got changed into her new dress.

* * *

"Okay, are we ready?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Replied a dazed Glinda, who hadn't been paying much attention to what was being said. Elphaba looked absolutely stunning in that dress.

"Okay let's go." The chanting began and they again vanished into the ether.

They both gasped as they were released from the maelstrom of different times and places whizzing by. As they looked around they realized they were in the courtyard of Shiz, just before sunrise.

"Elphie what day is this?"

"I don't know. I was aiming for early Shiz, I'm not experienced enough to choose an exact date. I can get us back, because we came from there, but this is harder."

"We should hide."

As they moved towards an abandoned building they began to formulate a plan. "It's harder to remain inconspicuous here because we're both recognized. Another problem is that even if we see Morrible it might be the wrong one."

"Huh?"

Elphaba smirked, "Glinda there is at least one version of Morrible here. If the one we're looking for is here, there are two. The one that was our headmistress and the one we're after."

"Oh, okay. Couldn't we go get the other versions of ourselves to help?"

"We're not allowed to mess with time. Besides, what would we say? 'Hello, I'm from the future and I need to capture Madame Morrible. And by the way, you're going to be best friends with your current worst enemy.'"

Glinda smiled sheepishly, "Okay, I get your point. But we look pretty similar now compared to how we looked then, why don't we just wander around for a bit until we find out if out Morrible's here?"

Elphaba frowned in thought, "We could do that, the only problem would be if we met ourselves. I might be able to-" she trailed off as she flicked through the Grimmerie.

"I can cast a spell so people won't notice the difference between us now and then. Plus they won't notice if they see two versions of us directly after one another or something like that. All we'll have to worry about is Morrible and ourselves."

"Okay, then what should we do? We still won't be able to tell which Morrible is which."

"I think the only sure fire way to do that is to watch her behavior, especially around the other versions of us. If we discover our Morrible then we'll try to restrain her and take her back with us."

"Good. Now cast that spell"

* * *

Elphaba walked around Shiz. It was eerie, like an extreme déjà vu. The students all laughed and pointed, but for it she could have hugged them. She and Glinda had split up in their search for Morrible, Glinda taking the dorm rooms and Elphaba taking the classrooms, the method in this being that the last place to find Glinda on a weekend (as it was) was in the dorms, and Elphaba had usually stayed in their room or gone to the library. This saved them having to worry about running into themselves. _Great. _

She found herself, unbidden, before the history classroom. _What could I achieve here?_ Just as she thought that Doctor Dillamond walked from the room with a pile of papers under his arm. She suppressed a gasp at the sight of him, but she must have made some noise because he turned.

"Hello miss Elphaba, it's a beautiful day isn't it?"

She fish mouthed for a moment before replying as calmly as she could, "Yes it is Doctor Dillamond, how are you?"

"Oh, magnificent! I have recently made a discovery of the similarities between the genes of humans and the genes of Animals! If I can prove them, with evidence that will stand up in the court of law, then the persecution the Animals have been facing will have to stop! If there is no difference between us on a molecular level then they cannot discriminate!"

Elphaba smiled at the sight of her old teacher. So happy, so animated. He was the closest thing she had ever had to a father. She almost laughed at the thought. She had two men who had believed they were her biological parent, and yet it was an old Goat who had treated her as kin.

"That's truly wonderful Doctor Dillamond. You're going to free the Animals, I know it."

He looked embarrassed, "Now let's not be too hasty Miss Elphaba, we've got a long way to go before that. Who knows, I may not even be here to see it through to the end."

This cut Elphaba deeply, "If you're not I promise I'll see it done."

He couldn't even look at her now, "That is most-most kind of you Miss Elphaba. Remember to have that homework done by our next lesson" He added with mock severity.

She chuckled, "Doctor Dillamond, I've already done it." she was guessing, but odds were she had.

"Yes. I suppose you have." He muttered as he trotted off to the staff room.

Elphaba sighed, _and now to do what I'm really here for._

* * *

Glinda wandered around the dorm rooms as another would wander around a haunted house. Slowly, fearfully and suspiciously. _What if Elphaba's here? What if I don't find Morrible? What if I _do_ find Morrible? _Small wonder that, with no other stimulus, her legs took her to the one room in this building that she had been to more times than any other. Her old dorm room. _Well, Morrible _could_ be inside._ She thought, a flimsy excuse at best. As she was about to enter she realized something.

"Key. I need a key." She muttered to herself before a voice behind her almost made her jump out of her skin.

"_Miss_ Galinda, if you would be so kind as to move I would like to get into our room."

She would recognize that voice anywhere, "Elph-aba." She said as she quickly understood that this was not her Elphaba. She was standing just behind her with a book in one hand and her key to their room in the other.

Elphaba blinked, "Yes, there are only so many green people in Oz. now I would appreciate it if you made your snide vegetable crack and got out of the way."

Glinda was speechless. She remembered younger Elphaba as being cold, but this was different. She wasn't just cold, she was positively hateful. But, Glinda recognized now that she knew her, she was also lonely. She had never have noticed if she didn't know the green girl, but she did.

Elphaba was very uncomfortable about the fact that Galinda was staring at her. "Would you stop that?!"

Glinda finally snapped out of it. "Oh! Yes, of course, sorry Miss Elphaba. I must have misplaced my key."

Elphaba grunted, but otherwise ignored the blonde as she opened the door.

"Thank you Miss Elphaba."

Elphaba slammed her book onto the study table. "What?!"

Glinda was perplexed, "What 'what' Miss Elphaba?"

Elphaba made a helpless gesture towards her, "Why are you being so… nice, all of a sudden?"

Glinda stared, "I wasn't aware I was."

Elphaba looked as though her eyes might pop out from shock, "You weren't aware?!" she exclaimed, her voice a gradual crescendo, "You usually won't even look at me without making some snide remark, and often do without having to look at me. You hide and sometimes destroy my possessions, and spread horrible rumors about me all over campus. And now you claim you DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE BEING NICE?!?!"

Glinda took a subconscious step back. Elphaba did look terrifying and if that wasn't enough, all the light bulbs in the room popped. "Please calm down."

Elphaba took several deep calming breaths, "It is a valid question. You go cavorting around with that Winkie prince, you say horrible things about me to fill your spare time and steal my stuff, why the sudden civility?"

Glinda thought. If Fiyero had only just arrived then they were not friends yet. But only just. And the only reason that had happened was because Elphaba had believed in her good intentions. So- "I have reached a conclusion Miss Elphaba."

Elphaba smirked at the big word coming from the blonde and crossed her arms, "Yes?"

"I have concluded that, given that we will undoubtedly have to share a room at least until the end of the year, we should declare a truce."

Elphaba raised an eyebrow, "A truce?"

"Yes. A truce, it seems we a destined not to get on, me with my dresses and you with your books. But the least we can do, as roommates, is promise not to destroy each other's possessions."

Elphaba smiled slightly, "All right. I won't destroy any of your possessions, not that I did before." She smirked, "And you do the same for me."

Glinda smiled, "Thank you Miss Elphaba. Now I have to go."

Elphaba inclined her head slightly, "Good day Miss Galinda." _Maybe she's not as airheaded as I thought…_

* * *

Glinda met her Elphaba back at the abandoned building half an hour after they left. "Did you find anything?"

"No. All I saw was Doctor Dillamond." Glinda sensed the sadness behind this.

"He's okay Elphie, in our time he's getting better."

"I know. It's just weird seeing him again. Did you find anything?"

"Only a younger you."

"Ah. How- um, how was she?"

"Amazingly cold at first. Then she managed to burst every light bulb in the room because I was apparently being nice, and eventually calmed down."

Elphaba smiled slightly, "I remember that. It was a few days before the party at the Ozdust. You tried to declare a truce, and then later in that day you stole my books. Again."

Glinda cringed, "I said I was sorry!"

"Not as sorry as you will be, _Miss_ _Galinda!_" A new voice rang out, echoing through the empty building. The windows smashed above them, showering both witches with glass and through the window came Madame Morrible, once again floating on her black clouds.

"Morrible!! You can't beat us! You might as well give yourself up and go to jail!"

Morrible smiled maliciously at the green girl, "Oh, can't I dearie?" With that she opened a large ratty brown tome that she was carrying and began to chant. Glinda gasped.

"That's the Grimmerie! How did you-"

Morrible laughed, "There's more than one way to skin a cat Glinda dear!"

Elphaba had begun chanting as well, as frantically as she could. Suddenly the room began to spin.

"Elphie what's happening?"

"Hold on!"

Suddenly the three of them were again flung into the ether.

**a.n. I know. Another cliffhanger. And for that I'm dreadfully sorry. I was going to explain what happened, but it would be lame to do it now, and I don't want to keep you waiting on this chapter any longer. So here it is.**

**Sadly they have changed the review button. It doesn't turn green anymore. DAMNNIT!**


	11. Chapter 11

**a.n. I know. I'm a terrible person, BUT I have a list of things to blame; **

**a) Writers block.**

**b) Doctor who, for returning and being brilliant, therefore putting me off writing.**

**c) TAFE, for returning with all its homework and assignments.**

**d) My mother, for going to Europe on holiday and leaving me to deal with the boys.**

**Enjoy!**

Elphaba and Glinda simultaneously yelped as they crashed into a foreign environment once more. This time, however, it was much more alien than before. There were no buildings to be seen, nor people and it seemed more… desolate than the Oz they had left. As soon as they had landed Elphaba rolled over and retched, her face pale from exertion.

"Elphie! Are you all right?"

Elphaba managed a small smile, "Define 'okay'. We're alive, so that's something. Have you got any idea where or when we are?"

Glinda gaped, "You don't _know_?!"

They both stood up as Elphaba began to explain, "I wasn't sure we could beat Morrible when she had the Grimmerie and we were so unprepared, so I opened up a time portal that sucked us all in. we ended up together because we were touching, but Morrible could be anywhere or any-when by now. Like us."

They wandered around for several minutes, examining their surroundings, making the odd suggestion to one another. "Do you have any clue where we are?"

Elphaba swallowed, "I have a guess, I just hope I'm wrong."

As she finished that sentence a large Tyrannosaurus emerged from the trees and roared deafeningly. Both witches stepped backwards in shock and fear, "I hate it when I'm right."

"Elphie do something! Send us back!"

"I can't! I haven't got enough energy, if I send us back now I'd die before we got half way."

Glinda screamed as the dinosaur began to charge at them, but stopped as she realized the giant reptile was peering down at them fixedly, its head lowered to their level. "Oh, I am so sorry; I thought you were one of those tasty mammals."

They gaped at it, "You-you're intelligent?" Elphaba gasped.

It looked somewhat affronted, "Of course. I'm talking to you aren't I? And, if it's not to bold to ask, what exactly are you?"

"Oh, we're um, humans. We shouldn't be here; our species won't develop for another few million years."

"I see. How did you get here? As far as I know it is impossible to travel to times gone by. I assume by your time me and my species are long gone."

Glinda felt the need to contribute, "Um, mister Dinosaur, sir, I don't want to tempt fate, but why didn't you eat us?"

Elphaba elbowed her in the side, "Don't be rude."

He chuckled, "How could I eat you? You speak. You understand life. You're sentient."

Elphaba was once again reduced to silence. For a short while anyway. "You-you don't eat sentient creatures?"

The Dinosaurs face hardened, "That would be barbaric."

"Oh, it would, but… in our time, some of the mammals that you hunt today have become like you; intelligent. But they are suppressed, by us." She gestured to herself and Glinda.

"Well, not us personally, but other humans. And some of them _eat_ Animals. And they call this time barbaric!" she was almost yelling.

The Tyrannosaurus eyed her appreciatively, "You have much spirit for one so small."

Elphaba blushed, "Thank you."

Glinda took over for a moment, "Um, sir, do you know if there is anywhere we could rest until my friend recovers enough to take us home?"

"Of course. There is a cave this way, I'll take you there, but then I must attend to my family."

"Thank you for your help."

* * *

A little over an hour later Elphaba was sufficiently rested to take them back to their own time, or near enough, "I'm not one hundred per cent sure that I can get us straight home. The best I can do is aim for our time lines and hope for the best."

"Oh great."

"Why Glinda, I do believe that is the first time you have used sarcasm."

They both grinned, "You must be rubbing off on me."

"I must be. Are you ready to go?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

Elphaba took a deep breath before beginning to chant again. They both gasped as they were thrown into the time stream again. It was very odd, and different every time they were in it. They could feel everything around them, their eyes and ears being useless. History whizzed past them as they voyaged through eras, from the fall of the Dinosaurs to the dawn of the Ozians, in all their forms, and beyond.

There was a loud 'thud' as they landed in what they hoped was their own time.

"Did we make it?"

"I don't know. You'll have to check, if we didn't I don't want to be seen. I'll hide somewhere and you try to find out the date."

A few minutes later Elphaba was hidden in a cupboard and Glinda was searching for information. She soon returned.

"It's the day we left."

"Oh good. Let's go, it doesn't matter if I'm seen."

As they were making their way up to their room Elphaba frowned and stuck her head out a window. "Oh no."

"What is it Elphie?"

"We haven't left yet."

"Huh?"

"Well, you said that we could arrive ten clock ticks after we left? Well this is a similar way of bending time, except the opposite. We're not going to leave for another hour."

"Oh. What should we do now?"

They both frowned in thought, "We need to go somewhere we know we're not going to be seen by anyone, especially ourselves."

Glinda laughed, "Where could that be? The only private place I can think of is our room, and we're there."

"Mmm… And so is Fiyero…"

They quickly raced down the stairs to Fiyero's room on the ground floor and entered without knocking, knowing he wasn't there. They caught their breaths for a minute before.

"God does he know what the word 'clean' _means_?"

* * *

A little under an hour later Fiyero entered his room to find the Wicked witch of the West and Glinda the good playing cards on the floor of his now immaculate floor. He jumped.

"B-but, you just left! You can't be back already, you-"He broke off as Glinda pounced on him in a huge hug.

"I've missed you Fiyero!"

He looked awkward, "Glinda, you just saw me a little while ago."

Elphaba smirked as Glinda released him, "No, you only just saw us. There is a difference. For us it's been a little more than a week."

He whined, "You always hurt my head Elphaba!"

"It's time travel remember? Glinda asked if we could return ten clock ticks after we left, but we arrived a little early, so we arrived before we left."

Fiyero groaned again, "Stop talking now."

"Okay."

They all stood in an awkward pause for a moment before Fiyero asked, "So did you find Morrible?"

Elphaba nodded and Glinda shook her head. Fiyero glared, "Well that's two answers you can give me. Now choose one."

They looked at each other and grinned. Elphaba elaborated, "We found her, but she got away. Constantly."

"How'd she do that? You're better than she is."

"It's not that simple. Just because you're a better fighter than someone isn't a clear indication that you'll win a fight. She seems to subscribe to the theory of 'he who fights and runs away lives to fight another day.'"

"Plus," added Glinda, "She had the Grimmerie the last time we saw her."

Fiyero stared again, "But you've got the Grimmerie. I can see it, right there."

They shrugged, "There might be more than one Grimmerie in Oz, you never know"

Elphaba was still thinking however, "I might have an idea of how she did it. We know two versions of the same person can exist on the same plane, given that we saw infant versions of ourselves."

Fiyero snorted, "Somehow I think you would have been incredibly cute."

"Oh she was!! She was so tiny and-" She broke off as she saw Elphaba glaring at her in a 'shut up' kind of way.

"Anyway, given that that's true, couldn't two copies of the Grimmerie exist on the same plane too? If she got a copy back in time, before I got it, she could use it against us, so long as it's returned to when she got it from after."

Glinda and Fiyero groaned in unison. Elphaba took the hint, "She has a copy of the Grimmerie, and she can use it against us. Better?"

"Much."

"What are you going to do now? You've still got to find her, and you don't know how."

"I can still travel in time, the shorter the trip, the easier it is. The only reason it was so unpredictable here was because we came from the cretaceous."

He whined again. Glinda smiled, "We saw a Dinosaur!"

"A-?"

Elphaba nodded, "With a capital 'D'. Guess they were more intelligent than we all thought."

"Wow. Nice."

"Yes. But where would Morrible go? I think we've exhausted most of the times she could kill us, where could she go?"

Glinda, who had been silent for a while piped up, "I can guess."

"Where?"

She walked over to the window, and observed the black clouds closing in again.

"Here."

**a.n. I KNOW! It's too short! But look at it this way; I was seriously considering the dreaded 'h' word. It was only your reviews that stopped me. A few more chapters, the final battle coming up! And then the bit you've all been waiting for ****. I've got it all planned out, the final battle's a bit hazy, but the important bit, I've had ready for a while now, lol.**

**REVIEW AND I WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER!**


	12. Chapter 12

**a.n. I'm a terrible awful mean person for not updating. I won't insult you with excuses, I'm SORRY! :'(**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked. Yet.**

"_Where?"_

_She walked over to the window, and observed the black clouds closing in again._

"_Here."_

Glinda turned, her eyes wide with fear, "She's coming for us, and she's got the Grimmerie. What are we going to do?"

"We're going to fight. I can still read the Grimmerie a lot better than her. She said herself, she can only decipher a spell or two, and I can read the whole thing. Plus we've got the Ozians on our side, and there's two of us and only one of her."

Glinda nodded with fierce determination, she was still afraid, but she'd be damned if she would let Elphaba go alone. "We need a battle plan. I won't let her hurt any more innocent people. Fiyero, can you evacuate as many people as you can?"

"Can do. Where should I take them?"

"The great Gillikin forest and the forest of the fighting trees would both be good." Contributed Elphaba, "It's a lot harder for her magic to permeate woodland because she specializes in weather, the talking Trees are friends of mine. I don't think she'll come after them unless she beats us. She doesn't want them, at least not yet."

Fiyero nodded, "She'll probably try to stop me if I do it now, is there any way you can distract her?"

They all thought, eventually Elphaba said, "I can, just give me a minute." She frowned in thought as she began chanting, it punctuated by whimpers of exertion.

"Elphie stop! You're hurting yourself!"

"Just-a little- more!" With a final scream Elphaba was thrown back onto the floor as a ghostly figure formed across the room.

"Elphie!" cried Glinda, diving for her inert form, "Are you all right?"

Elphaba groaned and clutched her head, "I will be in a minute, it's only temporary. Did it work?"

"Did what- AAAHH!" screamed Fiyero as he saw Elphaba's doppelganger standing about a meter away from him, "What did you do?"

She stood up slowly, with Glinda helping her up. She addressed the clone, "Turn left."

It immediately turned to the left. But Glinda noticed that, though it was a dead ringer for Elphaba, its eyes were blank. Glinda slowly approached, "Can you hear me?"

There was no response. Glinda tried to shake its arm, but her hand went straight through. "Huh?"

"It's sort of like an image of me. I can still control it, and with a bit of fine tuning it can distract Morrible long enough for Fiyero to evacuate as many citizens as possible. If it lasts longer it'll also give us the element of surprise."

"Can it cast spells?"

"No. it's only an image, it can talk, and run. Well, when I say it can't, I mean it can't cast real spells. I suppose it can cast illusions… Destroy that chair." She said to the illusion. It immediately cast a spell that shot a bolt of power at the chair, but it went straight through it.

Elphaba smiled, "Excellent. It can keep her busy for even longer. I don't think she'll be willing to test whether my spells work, do you?"

They all smiled, and there was nothing angelic about it. "I'll start the evacuation, can you send out your clone thing?"

A few minutes later Fiyero was gone, as was Elphaba's clone. Elphaba and Glinda turned to each other.

"What are we going to do Elphie?"

"We're going to win. You know that don't you?"

Glinda nodded tentatively, "But, how? We need a plan. Should we kill her?"

"I don't want to take any lives, but if it comes down to it I will."

Elphaba began skimming through the Grimmerie as quickly as she could to find something to stop Morrible.

"Can I help?"

Elphaba smiled, "I don't think so, you can't read the Grimmerie can you?"

Glinda shook her head, "No."

"You'll have plenty to do soon, if I find the right spell then I'll need all the help I can get."

She searched for a few more minutes while Glinda peered anxiously out the window at the growing clouds, "I've got it!"

"You have?" There was suddenly a flash of lightning causing them both to flinch.

Elphaba's eyes widened. "She's making it rain."

"Can you cast a water repelling charm?"

Elphaba shook her head, terrified, "I don't know how!"

Glinda thought back, remembering to her lessons with the headmistress after Elphaba had left. "Hold still." She started to move her arms in very precise movements, muttering under her breath with her eyes closed in concentration. All of a sudden she opened her eyes. A thin blue film covered Elphaba from about a centimeter out from her skin, soon fading.

Glinda winced as the spell took its toll, "Did it work?"

Elphaba shrugged before moving to the window and shoving her arm out. Glinda gasped, and after a moment, Elphaba smiled and pulled her arm back inside, unharmed. "It worked. Thanks Glin."

Glinda smiled back causing them both to have the same thought at the same time, _how can I want to kiss her at a time like this?_

Elphaba cleared her throat, "Okay, let's go. We need to get this over with."

Glinda nodded, "Let's finish this."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Morrible giggled manically as she saw the image of the Witch of the West running around on the ground, taking pot shots at her with spells which she never let hit. _This is almost too easy!_

She was right. Far too easy. Her attention was grabbed by a voice chanting behind her. She turned quickly to see Elphaba perched on her broom, her Grimmerie in one hand as she tried to read a spell. Morrible smirked, "Oh well done dearie! Projections are very hard to create!"

Elphaba glared as she continued chanting, ignoring Morrible. "Right, time's up Miss Elphaba!"

Morrible shot a bolt of lightning at the green witch from one hand. Elphaba dodged, but it was enough to throw off her chanting. She gave Morrible a look of pure death, and then had an idea. "You're right about projections, very difficult to create. But they're so realistic Madame! Why, I doubt you can even tell which one is _really_ me."

With that both Elphaba and her projection shot a spell at Morrible. She dodged both and cackled, Elphaba was correct; one never could tell the difference between a projection and the original unless one were to go up and attempt to hit it.

Morrible casually summoned an earthquake at the projection of Elphaba on the ground, who ran for her life, while she shot a cyclone at the Elphaba on the broom. Morrible smirked when the projection ran through a building by the road. _Gotcha_.

She turned her attention to the real Elphaba hovering before her, "I can see you dearie!" she cried before shooting another spell at Elphaba who again dodged it.

"A broom's more agile than a storm." She quipped before returning fire; she didn't notice something creeping behind her however.

"Agility isn't everything dear!" cried Morrible before putting on the loudest, brightest spell yet. Elphaba dodged, pulling off some very fancy flying to avoid the hex.

"Could've fooled me."

"Oh, I did Elphaba dear." Elphaba jumped in shock. That voice had come from behind her, and it was Morrible's voice. Before she had time to think she was blasted off her broom. The Morrible she had been fighting was the same thing she had sent to distract her nemesis; a projection.

Glinda screamed as she saw Elphaba fall. She had seen Morrible coming up behind her and tried to call a warning, but Elphaba could not hear her over the storm. "ELPHIE!"

Elphaba was quickly grasped in Morrible's magic, but her broom and the Grimmerie continued to fall. The book landed with a 'thud!' a few meters from where Glinda was standing. She rushed over to it, flicking through, trying to make sense of the illegible text, "Come on, come on! _Please_ help me! I need to help my friends and my people!" she cried, "and my love" she whispered, tears in her eyes. Elphaba was going to die and there was nothing she could do about it. All because she couldn't read some stupid book she couldn't help anyone.

Suddenly the text seemed to morph before her eyes, changing shape until it began to take form of decipherable words.

Glinda gasped as she realized the truth. You could only read the Grimmerie properly if you wanted to use the power to help others. That was why Elphaba had been able to read it from the beginning and no one else could get it right; everyone else wanted to use the power for their own benefit. Elphaba was selfless.

Glinda wiped the tears from her eyes, quickly finding the spell Elphaba had said she would use. Meanwhile, Morrible was gloating over her success, though to who was uncertain because Elphaba was unconscious. _Not dead though, _thought Glinda, _please don't let her be dead._

Glinda found the spell quickly, and began to chant, directing her thoughts to Morrible, and all the damage she had wrought across Oz. "Elta eleka akhum, nathum eleka eleka SATHUS!" she screamed, hoping to whatever gods there were that it would work. Morrible noticed she was there and cast a spell at Glinda, too late to stop the powerful spell Glinda had conjured.

Glinda gasped in exertion as her strength was sapped by the difficult spell. She was encompassed by a strange sensation, as if while her energy was being drained she was in turn, draining something. _I am going to die, _she thought as her vision began to fade, the spell taking its toll. _I'm sorry Elphie. _And Glinda thought no more.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Glinda groaned as she woke. She tried to open her eyes and look around but she couldn't make anything out. All she could see was white, a lot of white. _What happened? _She wondered groggily. _Are we going to sorcery class today? Sorcery! Morrible! _She shot up, looking around, but her vision was still blurry. Glinda looked desperately to her left but calmed slightly when she saw a green shape a small distance away.

"Elphie?"

Elphaba's striking features began to show themselves through the fog of unconsciousness. She was lying on the hospital bed next to hers and she was smiling, though weakly, "You did it Glin."

Glinda shook her head lightly as the last few hours came back to her, "Oh Elphie, thank Oz you're alive! I thought that-"

"It's only thanks to you that I _am_ alive." She paused as a disturbing thought occurred to her, "Unless we're both dead, and this is the afterlife."

"I think I can safely say that you're both alive, though how is a mystery." Came a new voice from the infirmary door. Fiyero entered the room, also smiling, "I don't know how you did it, but you did. When I came back to the city you were both unconscious in the mud. Morrible was found on someone's roof."

Elphaba tried to sit up but groaned as dizziness encompassed her, "Where's Morrible? What happened? All I remember is Glinda casting the spell; then I blacked out."

Fiyero sat on the chair between their beds, "I don't know exactly. Glinda?"

"I-I was watching, and Morrible took Elphie down; Sh-she had an illusion too. The Grimmerie fell, and when I looked at it I could read it, it was like it changed. I found the spell Elphie said she was going to use and cast it, but I think it was too strong and I fainted."

Both Elphaba and Fiyero were staring at her in shock, "I woke up here." She added, a little unnecessarily.

Elphaba stared at her friend, "You saved my life Glinda. Thanks."

Glinda smiled back, "I was just returning the favor."

Elphaba shifted a little uncomfortably and quickly changed the subject, "Where's Morrible? Is she in Southstairs?"

Fiyero shook his head, "No, not yet. At the moment she's in the criminal hospital."

Elphaba snorted, "Whose bright idea was it to have a criminal hospital?"

Neither of her friends would look her in the eye.

"Oh."

They nodded in unison.

"_Why?"_

Fiyero answered, "We weren't exactly thinking of Morrible when we thought of a criminal we would like looked after if they were ever caught." He said it with a pointed look at the green witch.

To Elphaba's credit she blushed a little, "Oh, uh, thanks."

"No problem Elphie."

They sat in silence for a minute, enjoying the safety that had been lost for so long before Fiyero piped up, "Elphaba, I know you're recovering, but I need your help with something."

Elphaba and Glinda turned their attention to the stray man, "What?"

Fiyero took a deep superfluous breath, "Morrible never left her cell."

**a.n. Review if you think I deserve it. Though I probably don't.**


	13. Chapter 13

**a.n. Well that got done more quickly than I thought! I'm reasonably happy with this chapter, don't worry if you don't get the time travel stuff, it took me ages to think out. Nice long chapter.**

**Disclaimer: If every fan gives $5 we might be able to buy Wicked. But we don't yet.**

_Fiyero took a deep superfluous breath, "Morrible never left her cell."_

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Elphaba and Glinda frowned, "What do you mean? She's in the infirmary isn't she?"

Fiyero nodded, "Yes. Here's what happened. A few weeks ago Glinda had Morrible locked in Southstairs. Shortly after that she tried to kill Glinda and you when you were proving your innocence to the people." Both witches nodded to show they were following what he was saying, "Once you beat her she escaped back in time, you went back and fought her for… a while. Then all of you returned here and you beat her."

Elphaba nodded, "We know that Fiyero, we were there. What's your point?"

"It's a bit difficult to explain. When the guards went to prepare Morrible's cell, they discovered that she was still there. Since Glinda had her thrown in jail she hasn't left."

Glinda was confused, "You said she was in the hospital!"

Fiyero put up his hands in a show of peace, "She is, but she's also in her cell. There are, at the moment, two Madame Morrible's. I thought you'd know what had happened. What did you do to her anyway?"

Glinda shrugged and turned to Elphaba, "What _was_ that spell?"

"You drained her powers. She can't do magic anymore." Her friends stared at her in shock, "I thought it was better than killing her." Elphaba buried her face in her hands, "Let me think… Glinda, when was the last time you saw Morrible cast magic before you had her thrown in jail?"

"Elphie does it really-"

"When!"

Glinda winced at the memory, "When she was sending the witch hunters after you!" She said as quickly as she could. "She was cheering them on and she was casting firework things. Sh-she said some things, and then I went to try to help you."

Elphaba's expression softened, "Oh Glinda, I'm sorry."

"It's okay, you're okay now. Why did you want to know?"

Elphaba rubbed her temples, "You'll have to bear with me; this hurts _my _head." She took a deep breath, "What if, after the witch hunters apparently killed me, Morrible realized what you were going to do and decided to jump ship? Say she jumped forwards in time to when we cleared my name. From there her timeline more or less follows ours."

Fiyero managed to think of something, "But if that's the version of Morrible that's in our timeline then who's in the cell?"

Elphaba came to a realization, "The only reason she wouldn't have broken out of Southstairs would be if she couldn't. Neither Morrible has any magic!"

Glinda chipped in, "So what do we need to do with the Morrible in the hospital? Take her back?"

"I think so. If we return her, and her version of the Grimmerie, to when they were last seen, then she'll get thrown into Southstairs and it should work out."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Elphaba smirked, "Of course you don't brainless."

"Oy!"

Both witches laughed, "Look, we're going to throw Morrible in jail a few weeks ago to fix time. Okay?"

Fiyero nodded thankfully, "Okay. One more time jump."

They nodded, "Just one."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Morrible was suitably bound gagged and unconscious when they were ready to leave. While Glinda was preparing the spell, Elphaba knelt to level with the ex-headmistress and closed her eyes, placing her hands on either side of her head. Glinda glanced around and jumped, "Elphie, what are you doing?"

"I'm temporarily wiping her memory of the last few weeks. If she knows what's going to happen to past us the repercussions could be astronomical."

Glinda stared at her blankly.

"It'd be really bad." Elphaba amended, smiling affectionately.

Glinda huffed to hide her own smile, "Why couldn't you say that in the first place?"

Elphaba grinned, "It makes me feel superior." She barely restrained herself from adding 'and you look cute when you're clueless.'

The blonde witch pouted, "Mean green thing."

"A mean green thing would go without you. Eleka nathum, nath-"

"_Stop!"_

Elphaba cackled at the look on the blondes face as she pounced for the jade witch. She slowly realized that her friend was having her on and pouted again, "I hate you."

Elphaba's laughter stopped to a smile, "You're my best friend too."

Glinda couldn't even pretend anymore; she smiled grudgingly, "Doesn't mean you're not mean to me."

Elphaba shook her head amusedly, "Come on, let's go." Her and Glinda joined hands and each held onto Morrible's bindings with their other hands. Elphaba began to chant the now familiar words and they were flung into the ether once more.

They landed with a heavy thump in the Emerald palace. Elphaba put a finger to her lips, Glinda nodded and they crept through a nearby door to the room adjacent to the throne room. Elphaba waved one hand and Morrible's bonds vanished and she levitated to a nearby chair, for all the world she could have fallen asleep. Which was just what they wanted.

They quickly exited the room lest Morrible awake and find them. Once in the room they had arrived in Elphaba began to chant quietly. Suddenly a gravelly male voice echoed through the room. "Who's there?"

Both witches eyes' widened in panic and Elphaba began to chant more hurriedly as there was a loud banging on the door. "Gale force! Open up!"

Just as the door burst open both witches vanished. Two guards rushed in. "Did you see what I saw?"Questioned one.

"Just for a second, but it looked like… _her." _

The first one shook his head, "But she's dead. Isn't she?"

"Who can say if a witch is truly dead?"

They both shivered and left.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Elphaba and Glinda landed violently in a pile of clothes. Elphaba spluttered, "Where are we? When are we?"

Glinda gasped, "We're not _home_?"

"I tried my best but I was in a hurry because of those guards. I think I missed." She picked a very skimpy piece of clothing off her head, "And I don't think we're in the Emerald palace anymore Toto."

"You were very mean to that little girl you know."

Elphaba averted her eyes shamefully, "I'm not proud of it. I-I was…" She trailed off.

Glinda hugged her, "I know. It wasn't your fault." Elphaba returned the hug tentatively, her heart speeding up at her proximity to the blonde witch.

Elphaba smiled shyly as she drew away, "Why do you always forgive me?"

Glinda smiled back, "The same reason you always forgive me."

_I doubt it_. She thought, but kept it to herself, "Where are we?"

They looked around, Glinda immediately squealed, "We're in my favorite boutique! Ooh, we have to go shopping!"

Elphaba rolled her eyes, "Glinda, there's a time and a place." She emphasized 'time'.

Glinda smiled sheepishly, "Oh, right. Speaking of time…?"

Glinda poked her head out of the store room they were concealed in before quickly retreating and closing the door, "Someone's coming!"

Voices seeped under the door, _"I still don't know why it has to be white Glinda."_

An annoyed and very familiar sigh came,_ "Because green doesn't go well with many colors and she refuses to wear pink and I'll be damned if I'm letting her wear black again."_

Elphaba frowned, "That's you and Fiyero."

"Yeah, I think… This must be when we bought your dress for when we cleared your name! It's a few weeks ago." A thought suddenly occurred to the blonde witch, _Oh Oz. _"Elphie can you take us home now?" She asked, trying to disguise the panic she felt.

Elphaba regarded her curiously, "I can in a little bit; I need to rest for a minute."

"_So, what exactly are we looking for?"_

Glinda's panic was growing. She couldn't let Elphaba find out how she felt about her; she would never speak to her again, their friendship would be ruined. "Can I try the spell? I know I'm not as good as you, but I can read the Grimmerie now."

The green witch nodded. _Why's she so scared? _"Here," She handed her friend the book, "It's on the right page."

"_We have to do this right!"_

Glinda started chanting as astutely as she could, concentrating on the time they had left. She felt the power building up inside her, a growing inferno of energy. Once it reached its peak she released it, casting the time spell.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Glinda landed with a thump in the room she and Elphaba had been sharing. She looked around joyfully, "I did it! Elphie I did it!" Her vision then cleared to reveal something.

She had left Elphaba behind.

"Oh no!" Glinda felt the tears building up. Elphaba was going to find out. _Oh NO! _She mentally hit herself, _Calm down, _said her voice of reason, which for some reason sounded exactly like the emerald witch. _What would Elphie do?_

Really the answer was obvious. What had Elphaba done every time something she could not deal with had come up? What had she done when she was so confused at being called beautiful? What had she done when all her hopes of the Wizard had turned to ash? What had she done when there was almost no one left who cared about her?

Run.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Elphaba groaned quietly as Glinda vanished in a flash of light. _She is _so _lucky I memorized the time spell._ She stretched slightly and sat with her back against the wall of the dark store room and relaxed. _Nothing to worry about. Something must be wrong. _She chuckled a little, _isn't that the saying? If you think there's nothing to worry about you lack sufficient imagination. _Elphaba was lacking in many things, but imagination was not one of them.

The voices of her friends from three weeks ago and yet right then wafted under the door, _"Someone's getting a bit touchy about our green bean lately."_

"_I don't know what you mean." _Elphaba frowned. Glinda sounded… Scared? Uncertain? She couldn't put her finger on it.

"_You're blushing Glinda." _Why would she be blushing?

"_No I'm not."_

"_Just admit it!"_

"_I don't know what you're talking about."_

"_I know you like her." _She _WHAT?_ Fiyero must have meant it differently, or gotten the wrong idea. Yeah, that was it.

_It's so obvious."_

"_I'm discreet!" _

"_HA! You do like her!" _Elphaba was now sure she was about to have a panic attack. Glinda liked her? Liked her the same way Elphaba liked her? This was too bizarre to be real. _I'm probably dreaming. _But a hopeful voice piped up. _It's weird that you can't pick a dream while you're having it, isn't it?_

"_Am I really that obvious?" _Glinda's voice seeped under the door and Elphaba almost exploded something by accident, something she hadn't done for years. She denied nothing.

"_You won't tell anyone will you?" _Elphaba winced in hurt. Why wouldn't Glinda want anyone to know? Okay, it was obvious really. She was _green, _the wicked witch of the west, universally hated, at least at this point, and not exactly Glinda's type.

Fiyero's voice came under the door again,_ "Imagine it; I go up to someone, 'Hey, did you know that Glinda the Good likes the Wicked Witch of the West?' I seriously don't think that anyone would consider _that_." _

"_Well, I can think of one person, and it's the person I want least to know."_

"_Ah. Okay, if it makes you feel better, I swear on pain of death never to tell anyone, especially Elphaba, that you like her."_

But why? _Oh Oz, I'm going to _kill_ Fiyero._

"_Fiyero?"_ Glinda's voice piped up timidly.

"_Yeah?"_

"_I, um, I think I love her."_

"_Good for you. You both deserve some happiness." _To Fiyero's credit he did sound happy for them, even if he did nothing about it.

"_Only if she loves me too. Which I don't think she does."_

Elphaba stared in shock. _That _was it? Glinda didn't think she loved her back? What kind of stupid reasoning was that? How could she _not _love the Good Witch? Her golden hair and her gorgeous eyes and the squeaky voice she used when she was embarrassed or scared. Scared. _Oh. My. Oz._

Glinda was scared when they realized where and when they were. She cast the time spell to get back because she _knew _that if they stayed Elphaba would find out. She now knew that Elphaba knew, so what had she done? It didn't matter really. All that mattered was that Elphaba had to find her.

"Glinda."

**a.n. FINALLY! Well okay, they're not together yet, but we're getting there! Sorry about the cliffhanger (again!) I'm getting into a horrible habit with those. **

**BTW, There's a Wicked challenge on my profile if anyone wants to try it, PM me if you need more info, cos it's an interesting concept.**

**REVIEW! I updated earlier just for you guys, so review damnit!  
Please. **


	14. Chapter 14

**a.n. last chapter! OMG! I can't believe I'm done! Did I rush it too much? I'm so sorry I didn't post this earlier, but I've had so much going on, seriously, it sucks.**

**Disclaimer: I've said it before; if every fan chips in $5 we might be able to buy Wicked. I actually think we should.**

Elphaba sped through the corridors of the Emerald Palace trying to find Glinda. When she had returned from the past the Good Witch was gone, and Elphaba had a shrewd idea why. She had to find her, talk to her; find out if she _meant_ it. If she didn't they could go back to being friends. If she did- Elphaba blushed. _Together we're unlimited. _She thought.

Elphaba loved Glinda. Whether she was Glinda the Good, just plain Glinda or even Galinda Upland. What she felt for the other witch was stronger than anything she had ever felt before. Stronger than when Nessa had died, stronger than when she had found Doctor Dillamond. Stronger than everything.

The green witch raced through the palace looking for some sign of the other witch, but there was none. _Where is she? _As Elphaba rounded a corner she smashed straight into someone, knocking them over. "Oh, I'm sorry. Fiyero!" She exclaimed.

The scarecrow picked himself up off the polished emerald floor, "Nice to see you too Elphaba. The new governor of Munchkinland needs to meet with you and Glinda; there's been some contestation over who should lead and you're next in line. How was the past?"

"Have you seen Glinda?"

Fiyero raised one straw eyebrow, "No, she was with you. What happened?"

Elphaba stared at him for a second before remembering her anger with the prince. "You knew."

Fiyero looked confused, "Knew what?"

"That Glinda- I mean, that we both-… You knew!"

Fiyero immediately realized what she was talking about, "What did you expect me to do? You made me promise not to tell! You'd've never forgiven me if I said anything!" He drew a calming superfluous breath, "What happened?"

Elphaba relaxed a bit as she realized he was right, "We dropped off Morrible, but as we were leaving some Gale force soldiers were trying to force entry to the room so I rushed the spell and I missed. We ended up a few weeks ago, in a boutique." Fiyero's eyes widened as he saw the implications of this, "Glinda tried to cast the time spell and take us home but she accidentally left me behind, so…" She trailed off; the rest was obvious.

Fiyero frowned as a troubling thought occurred to him, "What if Glinda didn't make it back? It _was_ her first time using the spell, what if she missed too?"

Elphaba shook her head, "I could feel the residual spell as soon as I arrived. She made it back. Where _is_ she?"

"I think it's obvious; she ran away."

"But _why_?"

Fiyero smiled a bit, "Come on Elphaba, you know why. Imagine if it'd been the other way around and you'd landed in the closet that day. What would you have done if you knew that Glinda was going to find out how you felt about her?"

Elphaba drew her hands into fists as her nerves grew, "Run."

He nodded, "So Glinda did the same. Now all you have to do is find her."

Elphaba looked at him despairingly, "She could be anywhere in all of Oz. I'd search further if I had to, but where would she go?"

Fiyero shrugged, "I don't know. Where would _you_ go? She's probably really confused right now. She doesn't want to lose you but she doesn't want to face you because she thinks you don't love her back, which is completely untrue." Elphaba blushed, "She can't leave Oz, but she doesn't think she can stay either. She needs to go somewhere that she can get answers, somewhere that changed her life."

Elphaba answered immediately, "Shiz."

Fiyero frowned, "You must be able to do better than that. If she is there and finds out you're looking for her she'll only run away again, Shiz is a big place."

Elphaba groaned frustratedly, "She has to talk to me sooner or later!"

"I think she'd rather later. _Think_, where at Shiz did your life end up changing the most?"

A slow smile grew on Elphaba's face as his words struck a chord. "I know where she is. Fiyero, I've got to go, can you talk to the standing governor and maybe get him to come back in a few days?"

Fiyero smiled too, "Consider it done. Go get your girl."

Elphaba blushed again but ran off to get her broom.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Elphaba snuck into the Ozdust ballroom silently. It had shut down a few years previous due to bankruptcy but no one had had time to renovate it or tear it down. It was, in essence, the same as that memorable night. The chandeliers hung from the ceiling, the serving plates were still sitting in their places at the bar. Most items held a respectable layer of dust, but nothing else showed the time that had passed. For the millionth time Elphaba marveled at how much a living being could go through, but objects remained the same.

The ballroom had changed so little, but the people that had danced there had changed so much.

Fiyero was then a careless Winkie prince going out with Galinda Upland, the most popular girl on campus. Boq was a loyal, but slight Munchkin who cared deeply for Galinda and treated everybody with respect and courtesy. Nessa was a spoiled girl confined to a wheelchair, unable to see the true reasons for Boq's devotion to her.

Galinda, even more spoiled than Nessa, was pretty and popular and adored by all. She despised her green roommate and was certain she was going to marry Fiyero. Elphaba was an ambitious sorcery student who everyone hated, but who didn't care. She had been determined to prove herself, and served her sister as much as she could.

Who would have thought in a few short years that Fiyero would become a selfless scarecrow, Boq a heartless tin man, in more ways than one, and Nessa a tyrant? Glinda would change her name and become one of the most beloved people in all of Oz and Elphaba go rogue from the Wizard and become the most feared being in the land.

Had that one party at the Ozdust changed the fate of Oz so drastically? Did they just happen to be the right people at the right time? The wrong people at the wrong time?

It wasn't even that party that had changed everything Elphaba realized. It had been one dance. One awkward dance between the green girl and the queen of popularity, with no music playing. They had been odd at first, neither knowing quite what to do, or indeed what was happening. But eventually, magically, the dance had begun. The strange thing was Elphaba didn't even know exactly what dance she was performing that night, and yet she and Glinda were completely synchronized.

Elphaba finally made it near to the dance floor, concealed in the black curtains draping the walls. As she expected the blonde witch was there. Her hair was matted and windswept, her eyes were red from crying and she had tear tracks down her cheeks. Her dress was a little torn and she was performing the same dance they had done years before. In short, she looked beautiful.

Glinda's mind was a whirlwind of confusion and misery. _What am I going to do? _She didn't know. She couldn't go back, that was certain. She couldn't look Elphaba in the eye, knowing that she would never love Glinda the way Glinda loved her. Things would never be the same between them again, and that thought brought on a new round of tears from the good witch. She continued dancing her and Elphaba's dance, remembering their times at Shiz. Now that she thought about it she realized she had loved Elphaba for a long time before she recognized it for what it was. She had always felt a bond with the green girl. At first she thought the emotions were hate, which quickly changed into friendship, then finally love.

Glinda hiccupped. The one question which seemed to answer every dilemma she had faced was useless. _What would Elphie do? _She didn't know. Elphaba would run, but there was nowhere to run to. Elphaba would fight, she would face it. But Glinda couldn't. She couldn't stand to face the emerald sorceress.

She closed her eyes, momentarily imagining Elphaba was there dancing with her, before everything had gotten so complicated. When she opened her eyes she almost gasped, for there no more than a meter away was the Witch of the West.

Elphaba smiled surprisingly tenderly, "May I cut in?"

Glinda started babbling, "Elphie, I-"

But Elphaba didn't appear to be listening. She began to go through the motions of the dance as perfectly as they had on the night of the party. So Glinda did what seemed most natural. She joined in.

It was as if the time spell had been cast again. Both witches felt the same as they had that night, but the emotions they felt now were so much stronger it was almost frightening. Many things had changed since that fateful night, but their feelings had not.

The dance finally came to a conclusion; Glinda had tears in her eyes, "Elphie…" She didn't know what to say.

Elphaba however, did, "Did you mean it?" She asked; her brown eyes wide and sincere.

Glinda squeezed her eyes shut and wished she could shut it all out. She couldn't lie. She just _couldn't_. But if she told the truth she might lose Elphaba forever. She opened her eyes and bit her lip, "Yes." She saw Elphaba's surprised reaction and quickly backtracked, "Elphie I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to happen and I don't expect-"

She was interrupted as the emerald witch's lips met hers.

It was like flying, like nothing existed except the two of them. The kiss was chaste and innocent, but it made both witches' hearts soar. They had been dreaming of this moment for months, years really, but only now had they acknowledged it.

They felt like their hearts were going to burst, nothing had every felt this powerful and _right. _After an eternity they broke apart.

Breathlessly they looked at each other, "I love you Glinda."

Glinda smiled more widely and joyously than Elphaba had ever seen, "I love you too."

Elphaba smiled, and for once she felt that things were getting better.

"Let's go home."

She took the blonde witches hand and they both exited the ballroom to join the rest of the world.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

**Epilogue**

There would be other times. There would be troubles and arguments. There would be uprisings and political rivals, life was never perfect. But they had each other, and Fiyero, which was enough for them. Boq was elected Governor of Munchkinland and did the job as best he could, the system being changed to having elected officials rather than inherited. Boq was still a little cold towards Elphaba, but understood now that she had saved his life.

Elphaba and Glinda ruled Oz for many more years, bringing what was referred to as the golden age of Oz. Because they ruled together they kept balance, Elphaba made many of the decisions, but Glinda counteracted most of them, spotting the holes in her judgment and keeping the green witch from making rash decisions.

Doctor Dillamond was finally cured and resumed his teachings at Shiz, often visited and assisted by his favorite pupil. The discrimination against the Animals was almost completely gone. There would always be a certain amount of prejudice because they _were _different. But more or less, they were the same as every other citizen.

Elphaba and Glinda eventually retired to the Gillikin, where they spent the rest of their days together. Fiyero ruled Oz in their stead, his body not aging.

One day both witches died, peacefully in their sleep, still holding each other.

Their deaths were greatly lamented throughout Oz, every citizen went to their funeral, where they were cremated and scattered together from the balcony of the emerald palace. And as they flew over Oz together, Fiyero sang.

"No one mourns the wicked… I guess that's true, right guys?"

**a.n. Did I ramble on too much in the epilogue? I really didn't expect it to go for that long, the words just poured out. I'm quite happy with the romance bit, which is sooooo not my forte, but I had that scene in my mind from the beginning of this fic.**

**It's over now! How far we've come! I'm starting on a shorter Wicked fic now, and if anyone wants to go two-ways in the challenge on my profile plz let me know.**

**Huge thanks to;**

**Lozzakapozza: for all your reviews and advice, you're the best.**

**TheAmazingEng: Such brilliant reviews, and grammer-naziing, you rock **

**RealityInMyDreams: Awesome reviews, glad that you put in the bits you liked.**

**DeffyNoble: Thanks for doubling back with the competitive motivation and your great PM's**

**James Birdsong: Uh, thanks for saying which chapters you liked, but why anonymous?**

**Pricilla Grey: Thanks for sticking with it, and informing me of how mean I am :P**

**You guys are the best, big thanks to all my other reviewers, just cos it's finished doesn't mean you don't have to review the last chapter! If you don't I might never write again (or if you didn't like it, I WILL write again! LOL!)**

**See ya next time guys!**

**B00K freak.**


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